by Chuck Sommers
Sunday, Apr 24, 2022
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Venue: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Where to watch: Bally Sports South, Bally Sports Wisconsin, Bally Sports North
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Check back later
BetMGM: Check back later
Caesars: Check back later
Season record
Wild: 50-21-7
Predators: 44-29-5
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Wild - Predators preview and analysis
The Nashville Predators have clearly not wanted to make things easy going into the final week of the season. Their playoff hopes hinder on winning at least two more games, maybe even three, with the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights on their table.
The Minnesota Wild are still fighting for their own home-ice advantage in the first round against the St. Louis Blues, so there might be a need to play better going into this matchup between the Central Division teams in Nashville on Sunday.
And I’d venture to guess that the Wild will be looking for revenge after losing to Nashville a couple of weeks ago, on the road, in a 6-2 loss for Minnesota. Since then, the Wild have turned it on by going 7-1-1 in their last nine with the most recent a 6-3 win at home against the Seattle Kraken.
Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Minnesota went on to score six unanswered goals, highlighted by a four-point night for Kirill Kaprizov to reach 100 for the first time in his NHL career. Kevin Fiala had *checks notes* five assists(!!!) giving him 14 points in his last five games.
"It's a huge accomplishment," Kaprizov said. "A huge thank you to the fans, my teammates, the organization. Obviously, it's a huge accomplishment, I'm extremely thankful and happy. Obviously, getting the team win was super important and made everything that much more sweet."
Marc-Andre Fleury got the start in that game, which means you should expect Cam Talbot to get the call in this one. The Wild have alternated goalies since acquiring Fleury; this rematch should prove fruitful for Talbot after Fleury lost the last meeting.
But with this offense humming at the right time, who wouldn’t want to get the chance to score against Juuse Saros in a must-win game? Well, that would be the ideal situation if not for Saros playing Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning and giving up six goals on 30 shots in a 6-2 loss to the two-time champs on Saturday.
"We don't have a lot of time to dwell on tonight," Predators coach John Hynes said. "We weren't good enough in several different areas. We had a number of breakdowns and gave them some easy shots. They have a lot of talent on that team."
The decision to go with Saros almost likely means David Rittich gets the call in travel back home matchup against Minnesota. The biggest difference here is you can trust Minnesota’s goaltending and defense more right now than Nashville’s backup situation. And the fact Saros got cooked in Tampa, that sounds great for Dallas and Vegas.
Prediction
Talbot has been incredible in net since the trade, but since March 8 he’s been just as terrific going 11-0-3 with a .919 save percentage. If that’s the competition going against Rittich, I’d say that’s not an ideal situation to be in for the home team. Talbot shuts the door and presents what will be one hell of a final week of the season. Wild win 3-0
Betting trends
Wild are 19-8 this season off two straight overs.
Wild are 23-5 this season off a home win.
Wild are 6-0 off two straight home wins by two goals or more this season.
Projected lines
Wild:
Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello
Kevin Fiala -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Matt Boldy
Tyson Jost -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Nick Bjugstad
Brandon Duhaime -- Connor Dewar -- Nicolas Deslauriers
Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Dmitry Kulikov
Jon Merrill -- Jordie Benn
Cam Talbot
Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello
Kevin Fiala -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Matt Boldy
Tyson Jost -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Nick Bjugstad
Brandon Duhaime -- Connor Dewar -- Nicolas Deslauriers
Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Dmitry Kulikov
Jon Merrill -- Jordie Benn
Cam Talbot
Predators:
Filip Forsberg -- Mikael Granlund -- Matt Duchene
Nick Cousins -- Ryan Johansen -- Luke Kunin
Yakov Trenin -- Colton Sissons -- Tanner Jeannot
Eeli Tolvanen -- Michael McCarron -- Philip Tomasino
Roman Josi -- Dante Fabbro
Mattias Ekholm -- Alexandre Carrier
Mark Borowiecki -- Matt Benning
David Rittich
Filip Forsberg -- Mikael Granlund -- Matt Duchene
Nick Cousins -- Ryan Johansen -- Luke Kunin
Yakov Trenin -- Colton Sissons -- Tanner Jeannot
Eeli Tolvanen -- Michael McCarron -- Philip Tomasino
Roman Josi -- Dante Fabbro
Mattias Ekholm -- Alexandre Carrier
Mark Borowiecki -- Matt Benning
David Rittich
Statistical leaders
Wild:
Points: Kirill Kaprizov -- 101
Goals: Kirill Kaprizov -- 45
Assists: Kirill Kaprizov -- 56
Goalie: Cam Talbot -- 31-12-4, 2.78 GAA, .911 SV%
Predators:
Points: Roman Josi -- 90
Goals: Matt Duchene -- 40
Assists: Roman Josi -- 69
Goalie: Juuse Saros -- 38-25-3, 2.57 GAA, .918 SV%
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
