Carolina Hurricanes vs. Minnesota Wild Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/12/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN

Where to watch: BSSO, BSN

DraftKings: Hurricanes -115, Wild -105

BetMGM: NL

Caesars: Hurricanes -115, Wild -105

Hurricanes: 32-10-3

Wild: 28-11-3

Hurricanes: won five of seven

Wild: won seven of nine

Did you ever think this would be a potential Stanley Cup Final matchup? We're well on our way to something of this magnitude, but there's a lot left to play.

But man, this is going to be one hell of a matchup on Saturday when the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild meet each other in St. Paul.

This is the kind of matchup you can watch and enjoy because it's growing the game. If you're a fan of young talent that could willingly lead their respective teams, this is the game for you. And honestly, I could watch seven games of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnkiov and Kirill Kaprizov dazzle the masses with their ridiculousness.

It also helps that they're two of the hottest teams in the league at the moment. The Hurricanes, coming off a 6-0 win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday, won for the first time in three games but for the fifth time in seven games.

Aho scored twice, and Teuvo Teravainen had three assists to bookend Frederik Andersen's 34-save shutout in the dominant win over the short-handed Bruins.

“The score doesn’t matter," Aho said. "It’s just the two points, and obviously we’ll take it.”

“If they get a power-play goal, the game is way different,” Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "That was a huge part of the game. He was great, and then we were able to settle down and get playing.”

Meanwhile, the Wild had their six-game winning streak end in their first game coming out of the break, getting shut out by Connor Hellebuyck. Minnesota had 20 goals in their previous four games before getting goose egged by the former Vezina Trophy winner.

“We didn’t get to our game,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “I was going to say we didn’t get it quick enough, but I don’t think we got to it at all.

“We had offensive zone time. Pucks were bouncing, but we didn’t get to the net like we should have. There was a pile of rebounds there. (The Jets) did a real good job of collapsing, protecting the slot and we didn’t do a good enough job of having more will to get to that area for us that we normally do.”

The Hurricanes being slight favorites in this one tells me it's going to be as even as we anticipate. We're getting a great goaltending battle between Andersen and Talbot; young stars skating everywhere, and both teams even have terrific blue lines that can contribute offensively as well as shut you down with no problem. 

It's almost like choosing between two beautiful people at the prom. We're close to prom season so we can actually use this metaphor. Imagine you're getting ready to ask out the dream person to prom. You build yourself up and are ready to make it happen. Then, at the last possible second, right as you do, this beautiful person that has had their eye on you while you feel the same, comes up and asks you. It's a wonderful pick, but you know you're going to hurt the other by picking the one.

Except if you pick the person that picked you, then in that case you're not totally losing out. I feel this works just as well in sports to some degree. You can pick one team in this matchup that's great, but ultimately you have the other one to deal with should you choose wrong. Maybe that's life in betting? This is what happens when I sit in the Red Rock sportsbook for two hours. I just contemplate everything to no true meaning.

Anyway, I say all of that to say I like the home team to win this one. Minnesota's crowd tends to get up for big games, and I can't imagine that atmosphere being less than what we're accustomed to. I think it does turn into a fun game with Minnesota pulling it out. Wild win 3-2

The Hurricanes are 34-15 in non-conference games the past three seasons.

The Hurricanes are 42-68 after posting a shutout the previous game.

The Wild are 23-13 after giving up two goals or less in two straight games.

Hurricanes:

Teuvo Teravainen -- Sebastian Aho -- Martin Necas

Andrei Svechnikov -- Vincent Trocheck -- Seth Jarvis

Nino Niederreiter -- Jordan Staal -- Jesper Fast

Steven Lorentz -- Derek Stepan -- Jordan Martinook

Jaccob Slavin -- Tony DeAngelo

Brady Skjei -- Brett Pesce

Ian Cole -- Ethan Bear

Frederik Andersen

Wild:

Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello

Jordan Greenway -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno

Matt Boldy -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Kevin Fiala

Connor Dewar -- Nico Sturm -- Brandon Duhaime

Alex Goligoski -- Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin -- Jordie Benn

Dmitry Kulikov -- Jon Merrill

Cam Talbot

Hurricanes: Rod Brind'Amour

Wild: Dean Evason 

Points: Sebastian Aho -- 48

Goals: Sebastian Aho -- 21

Assists: Tony DeAngelo -- 28

Goalie: Frederik Andersen -- 25-6-1, 2.01 GAA, .930 SV%

Points: Kirill Kaprizov -- 53

Goals: Kirill Kaprizov --19

Assists: Kirill Kaprizov -- 34

Goalie: Cam Talbot -- 18-8-1, 2.81 GAA, .913 SV%