Minnesota Wild vs. Boston Bruins: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 10/22/2022

Time: 1 p.m. ET

Venue: TD Garden, Boston, MA

Where to watch: NHL Network, SN, NESN, Bally Sports North, Bally Sports Wisconsin

DraftKings: Bruins -115, Wild -105

FanDuel: Bruins -120, Wild +100

BetMGM: Bruins -115, Wild -105

Caesars: Bruins -115, Wild -105

Wild: 1-3-0

Bruins: 4-1-0

Recent results
Wild: won 4-3 (OT) vs. Canucks
Bruins: won 2-1 (SO) vs. Ducks

Defense has been optional for the Minnesota Wild to begin the season, and that’s not something we’re accustomed to seeing from this group. What’s even more wild is the fact that the Wild have started the year with four games at home and have gotten shellacked in the first three. The Wild gave up 20 goals in their first three games while only scoring 12. They were able to bounce back and get in the win column for the first time this season on Thursday, a 4-3 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks.

While Kirill Kaprizov’s overtime winner gave the Minnesota faithful some hope, it’s still not withstanding that it makes no sense that they’re playing this bad in two areas that they normally don’t. And now they hit the road for the first time this year to take on a Boston Bruins group that is 4-1-0 in the first five of the Jim Montgomery era and have not lost any scoring touch offensively.

"Having the first three games very challenging and not winning, every single shift feels like it's tiring when you make a lot of mistakes, you don't do well in your own zone, every shift seems difficult," Kaprizov said. "… You try, work hard and maybe feel better, and after a win, of course, it's no pressure now. A little bit easy."

It hasn’t been a great start at both ends for the Wild, especially in the crease. Marc-Andre Fleury has gotten off to a slow start with a *checks notes* 5.96 GAA (!!!) and an .813 save percentage. The poor future Hall-of-Famer got torched for seven goals in the opener against the Rangers and then had to watch Filip Gustavsson lose twice and not fare any better.

The Wild are dealing with injuries to important players, however. Mats Zuccarello is day-to-day, and defenseman Jon Merrill is going on injured reserve. Jordan Greenway, one of Minnesota’s better 200-foot players, is out with an upper-body injury after making his season debut Thursday.

But the Bruins are also down plenty of important players themselves and are humming along with Jim Montgomery running things. Yeah, they’re down Brad Marchand and Brandon Carlo right now, but who cares? They’re winning and Montgomery has them playing well in all three phases. The Bruins are coming off a 2-1 shootout victory over the Anaheim Ducks at home with Taylor Hall scoring the lone goal in regulation and the winner in the shootout. Not a bad statement after losing 7-5 to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, but that’s an offensive juggernaut in Ottawa. Linus Ullmark made 30 saves in the win, as well.

"I'd rather we just win in, you know, after 60 [minutes]. That's how I see it," Ullmark said. "If it goes all the way to 65 and then shootout, it's been working so far. Hopefully we can keep doing that. I don't plan on letting in goals just because it's a shootout, so it was fun tonight."

The Bruins are slight favorites going into this one, and you can’t really be surprised at that given how Minnesota has looked. But maybe the road is what the Wild need to get back on track and play a more simplified game.

"We just didn't make clean plays tonight," Montgomery said. "I thought puck movement was slow at 5-on-5 and especially on the power play tonight. We found a way to get two points. It's a hard league to win in, and we're going to enjoy the two points, but we're not going to be happy with the team play."

But I can’t see Boston letting up at home just yet. If the Bruins want to make a statement, this would be a game to do it. Not the Florida game. This one. Bruins win 3-2

Wild are 23-10 in the last three years in non-conference games.

Wild are 27-13 after a one-goal win in the previous game over the last three years.

Wild are 13-6 after four straight home games the last three years.

Bruins are 22-12 in non-conference games the last three years.

Bruins are 28-23 off a home win the last three years.

Wild:

Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello

Mason Shaw -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno

Frederick Gaudreau -- Marco Rossi -- Matt Boldy

Brandon Duhaime -- Sam Steel -- Tyson Jost

Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill -- Calen Addison

Filip Gustavsson

Bruins:

Pavel Zacha -- Patrice Bergeron -- Jake DeBrusk

Taylor Hall -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak

Trent Frederic -- Charlie Coyle -- Craig Smith

Nick Foligno -- Tomas Nosek -- A.J. Greer

Hampus Lindholm -- Matt Grzelcyk

Derek Forbort -- Connor Clifton

Mike Reilly -- Jakub Zboril

Jeremy Swayman

Points: Mats Zuccarello -- 8

Goals: Kirill Kaprizov -- 4

Assists: Calen Addison -- 6

Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury -- 1-1-0, 5.96 GAA, .813 SV%

Points: David Pastrnak -- 8

Goals: David Pastrnak -- 3

Assists: David Pastrnak -- 5

Goalie: Linus Ullmark -- 3-0-0, 2.06 GAA, .938 SV%