Minnesota Wild vs Dallas Stars Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/28/2026

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Venue:  American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX 

Where to Watch:  ESPN2

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Wild +114, Stars -135; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Wild +115, Stars -135; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Wild +115, Stars -135; Over/Under:  6 goals

Minnesota Wild:  46-24-12 (3rd place, Central Division)

Dallas Stars:  50-20-12 (2nd place, Central Division)

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Minnesota Wild:  5-4-1 last 10

Dallas Stars:  7-2-1 last 10

The Wild are entering the playoffs with 104 points, a 46-24-12 record overall, and they were 23-14-4 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a win against the Dallas Stars in their last game, winning that one at home 3-2 in overtime. Brock Faber, Marcus Foligno, and Matt Boldy each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Kirill Kaprizov led the team in assists with 2 while Ryan Hartman led the team in shots on net in that game with 7. Jesper Wallstedt was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 2 goals on 45 shots with 43 saves and a .956 save percentage. Their offense has scored 272 goals this season averaging 3.3 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 240 goals against them allowing 2.9 goals per game.

The Stars are entering the playoffs with 112 points, a 50-20-12 record overall, and they were 26-11-4 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a loss against the Minnesota Wild in their last game, losing that one on the road 3-2 in OT. Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Matt Duchene and Mikko Rantanen each led the team in assists with 2 while Jason Robertson led the team in shots on net in that game with 7. Jake Oettinger was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 3 goals on 43 shots with 40 saves and a .930 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 279 goals this season averaging 3.4 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 226 goals against them allowing 2.8 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Stars listed as a favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Stars have looked great in their games this season with their 50-20-12 record overall which had them right near the top of their division in the West with one of the best records in the entire NHL. They have looked great on home ice too with their 26-11-4 home record this season. Meanwhile, the Wild have looked really good in their games this season with their 46-24-12 record overall which had them in the top half of their division in the West. They have been a good road team too with their 23-14-4 road record this year. This is game 5 of a 7-game series between the 2nd seeded Stars and the 3rd seeded Wild in the Central for the 1st round of the NHL playoffs. This series is all evened up 2-2 after the Wild won game 4 by a score of 3-2. This has been a really up and down series between two of the best teams in the NHL this year. The Wild came out really strong to start the series with a 6-1 road win, but they ended up losing the next 2 games in a row before evening up the series in game 4 in OT. The Wild had a lot of trouble in the last 2 games which were both home games for them. Both games went to OT with the Stars winning game 3 and even though the Wild are off a 3-2 OT win now, they still didn't look great in that one. They spent most of that game trailing and never had a lead in the game until scoring the game winning goal in OT. The Stars looked like the better team in that one though and now they are coming back home with some momentum since they did do their job on the road and got the home advantage back in this series. Now the pressure is back on the Wild to answer, but the Stars are starting to look like the team that was one of the best in the NHL all year and they have a ton of playoff experience to lean on too, being one of the more successful playoff teams over the last few years. The Stars are going to be looking for an answer at home to that tight OT loss in game 4 and the home advantage should be enough to give the the edge in this one. The best way to place a bet here is on the Stars to win this game. 

Wild Stars Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Tuesday, April 28, 2026 (8:00 pm ET start time) is Stars 4 Wild 2.

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Minnesota Wild: 14-15 (-8.6 units) on the moneyline against poor offensive teams - averaging 26.5 shots on goal per game or less. 54-71 (-9.1 units) on the moneyline when playing against a team with a winning record. 99-92 (-6.4 units) on the moneyline against poor power play killing teams - opp score on over 17.5% of chances. 24-13 OVER when playing against a team with a winning record. 14-7 OVER as a road underdog of +100 to +200. 

Dallas Stars: 173-113 (+12.4 units) on the moneyline in all games. 88-46 (+11.3 units) on the moneyline as a home favorite. 67-44 (+11.4 units) on the moneyline revenging a loss versus opponent as a favorite. 14-5 OVER against poor defensive teams - opponents average 29.5+ shots on goal. 17-9 OVER against poor defensive teams - 29 shots on goal or more, convert 17% pp or more. 

Minnesota Wild:  M. Zuccarello (RW) Day To Day - Upper-body. Y. Trenin (C) Day To Day - Upper-body.

Dallas Stars:  R. Hintz (C) Out - Lower Body. N. Bastian (RW) Out - Hand. T. Seguin (C) Out For Season - ACL.

"I just think our mindset is more taking whatever the game is giving us. Coming out, and playing and staying with it. I think we've done a good job of that and I think there were some lessons out of the first couple of games of making sure that we're just playing. We're going over the boards and regardless of what the situation is or what happens, we're focused on playing how we need to play regardless of the circumstances." - John Hynes after his team’s win against the Stars in the 4th game of this series on Saturday. 

"These are player games. We're making tweaks every game, tweaks everyday. We've got a couple things in our mind already for (Sunday) that we can button up for the next game, but it's the war of the blue paint. You need to get in there and find some pucks, get some sticks on things and win some battles when it's that contested. It's really now hand-to-hand combat, and blue paint (battles), for both sides." - Glen Gulutzan after his team’s loss against the Wild in game 4 of this series on Saturday. 

LW Kirill Kaprizov

C Ryan Hartman

RW Bobby Brink

LD Quinn Hughes

RD Brock Faber

G Jesper Wallstedt

LW Justin Hryckowian

C Wyatt Johnston

RW Mikko Rantanen

LD Esa Lindell

RD Miro Heiskanen

G Jake Oettinger

Points: Kirill Kaprizov (89)

Goals: Kirill Kaprizov (45)

Assists: Quinn Hughes (48)

GAA: Jesper Wallstedt (2.61)

Points: Jason Robertson (96)

Goals: Jason Robertson (45)

Assists: Mikko Rantanen (55)

GAA: Casey DeSmith (2.43)

Coaches:

Minnesota Wild: John Hynes (3rd season)

Dallas Stars: Glen Gulutzan (1st season)