After the long grind of the 82-game regular season, the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are here! Just 16 teams are left standing in contention for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Things will get started on Monday night with four games, including the Dallas Stars hosting the Minnesota Wild at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Over the next few days, we’ll preview each series with a look at each team’s path to victory, picks, predictions, and best bets. Let’s keep it going with the Wild vs. Stars series preview!
Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars: Series Schedule
Dallas Stars (C2) vs. Minnesota Wild (C3)
Mon., April 17: Wild at Stars, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2, SN360, TVAS2
Wed., April 19: Wild at Stars, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2, SN360, TVAS
Fri., April 21: Stars at Wild, 9:30 p.m. ET, TBS, SN1, TVAS
Sun., April 23: Stars at Wild, 6:30 p.m. ET, TBS, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS
Tue., April 25: Wild at Stars, TBA
Fri., April 28: Stars at Wild, TBA
Sun., April 30: Wild at Stars, TBA
Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars: Path to Victory
Minnesota Wild
The Wild could have a goaltending conundrum with backup Filip Gustavsson (22-9-7, .931 SV%, 2.10 GAA) outplaying the veteran starter Marc-Andre Fleury (24-16-4, .908 SV%, 2.85 GAA). They should go with Gustavsson, but Fleury’s experience could lead to some decisions, especially if the Wild fall behind in the series.
Nevertheless, Minnesota is a team that is hard to play against. Kirill Kaprizov is back from a scary-looking injury and will have to carry a Wild offense that will likely still be without key center Joel Eriksson Ek. Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy are good complementary pieces that must step up if the Wild want to advance.
Dallas Stars
The Stars nearly won the division and were the overall better team this season. They are a well-built team with a mix of veterans (Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski), young talent (Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnson, Miro Heiskanen), and a budding star — pun very much intended — in net with Jake Oettinger.
Dallas must improve its play at home if it wants to advance in the playoffs. The Stars were just 22-10-9 at home as opposed to 25-11-5 on the road.
Wild vs. Stars: Picks, Predictions, & Best Bets
Stars to win series (-138 via FanDuel)
This series is going to be a battle, no matter what. These are two physical teams that know each other pretty well, with each team taking two games in the four-game season series — granted, the Wild’s two wins came in the shootout while Dallas won 4-1 twice.
The deciding factor in this series will be Dallas’ depth and goaltending. While Kaprizov might be the best player in the series — although Robertson has something to say about that –, things fall off a bit for Minnesota after the top line and top-six. However, Dallas has three reliable lines, which will be the difference.
Over 5.5 games (-167 via Unibet) / Over 6.5 games (+220 via Unibet)
This is not going to be a short series. As stated above, the teams split the season series, and neither squad will go down easily. Also, neither the Wild nor the Stars seem like a team that will make quick work of the other.
I like this series to go at least six games, with a seven-game series possibly being in the cards.
Follow Ryan Gilbert on Twitter (@RGilbertSOP)
