Minnesota Wild vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/19/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Bell Centre, Montreal, QE

Where to watch: RDS, TSN 2, Bally Sports North, Bally Sports Wisconsin

DraftKings: Wild -255, Canadiens +205

BetMGM: Wild -275, Canadiens +220

Caesars: Wild -270, Canadiens +220

Wild: 47-21-7

Canadiens: 20-45-11

The Minnesota Wild are answering a few questions as they continue to ready for their playoff push. One thing, we’re slowly learning who the starting goalie will be heading into Game 1 and if it’s not Marc-Andre Fleury, heads might roll.

The second is how good this team is right now, and should there be concerns on the backend? But the last few games are going to be tune-ups for the Wild starting Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre.

It’s been a fun season for Minnesota, but there have been plenty of goals given up in recent games that make you wonder if there should be a lingering of concern. They gave up six in an overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues in a first-round preview, and and four to the San Jose Sharks the other night, but ended up winning 5-4 in overtime.

Kevin Fiala had a goal and three assists, and Jared Spurgeon scored the game-winner in overtime to defeat the Sharks on Sunday and clinch a spot in the playoffs.

"It's always nice to make the playoffs," Fiala said. "It's a tough league. It's the hardest league in the world. You want to do it every year, so it's just great. Just great for us to make it. That was our goal from the beginning, and we're here right now, but it's nothing. It's [regular season] and we have still seven more to go. And still the second place (in the Central Division), still the home advantage there we want to take. And from there it starts. The playoff is not here yet."

The Wild have gotten this far on the precipice of their defense, which is very sound up front, and goaltending. Cam Talbot has been great, but his longevity is why the Wild went for Fleury. The future Hall-of-Famer made 26 saves in the win.

Minnesota let an opportunity slip on Saturday in the 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Blues, ensuring that the best-of-7 series will start in St. Louis. The Chicago Blackhawks are desperately hoping that Minnesota wins so that pick they got from Fleury turns into a first-round pick, so Chicago will be cheering on Minnesota in a crazy sort of way.

But it’ll be interesting to see what version of the Canadiens the Wild will see in this matchup. Carey Price is back, but will he start? Montreal didn’t score any goals in his debut and gave up eight to the Washington Capitals, while poor Sam Montembeault was left out to pasture. What kind of hell are we getting out of this?

Alas, if it is Price, I think we need Fleury-Price one more time for the memes after last year’s Stanley Cup Semifinal with Vegas.

"It was a hard game for Sam, we didn't make it easy on him," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "There were a lot of bounces that made it hard for him but I thought it was too advanced in the game to even consider it. I know it's a tough thing for a goaltender to stay in there for eight goals but I didn't want to pull Sam."

God bless Martin for understanding the situation.

If Price gets the nod, I think the Habs will want to play well for their goalie. They’re in need of a good-spirited win and a performance against Minnesota would be the way to do it. The Wild really have nothing to play for and taking their foot off the gas wouldn’t be a shock here. Montreal in a great goalie duel. Canadiens win 3-2

Wild are 22-9 in non-conference games this season.

Wild are 21-8 the past three seasons off a win at home by one goal.

Wild are 21-5 off a win at home this season.

Canadiens are 2-11 this season when playing with two days rest.

Wild:

Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello

Matt Boldy -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Kevin Fiala

Tyson Jost -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno

Brandon Duhaime -- Nick Bjugstad -- Nicolas Deslauriers

Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba

Jordie Benn -- Alex Goligoski

Marc-Andre Fleury

Canadiens:

Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher

Rem Pitlick -- Ryan Poehling -- Joel Armia

Michael Pezzetta -- Jake Evans -- Paul Byron

Alexander Romanov -- David Savard

Joel Edmundson -- Jeff Petry

Corey Schueneman -- Chris Wideman

Carey Price

Points: Kirill Kaprizov -- 93

Goals: Kirill Kaprizov -- 43

Assists: Mats Zuccarello -- 52

Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury -- 25-22-5, 2.90 GAA, .910 SV%

Points: Nick Suzuki -- 57

Goals: Nick Suzuki -- 20

Assists: Nick Suzuki -- 37

Goalie: Jake Allen -- 9-20-4, 3.30 GAA, .905 SV%