Hell hath no fury like the seventh game of the Stanley Cup playoffs series, and we are going to get to see that on Friday when the Minnesota Wild take on the Vegas Golden Knights. Minnesota forced the Game 7 with a 3-0 shut out on Wednesday.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this West Division battle at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas is the favorite at -182. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts Minnesota at +160 as the underdog.
Minnesota will be without Louie Belpedio, Andrew Hammond, Marcus Johansson, and Marco Rossi. Both Carson Soucy and Joel Eriksson Ek are listed as questionable for this contest. Vegas will be without Peyton Krebs and Brayden McNabb. Listed as questionable are Tomas Nosek, Max Pacioretty, and Ryan Reaves.
Talbot Shines for Force Game 7
Minnesota needed a spectacular performance out of Cam Talbot, and he provided it, stopping all 23 shots in the 3-0 victory. This was a scoreless tie through two periods, but Ryan Hartman put the Wild on top with his second goal of the playoffs. Kevin Fiala added a goal and an assist.
Minnesota is averaging 1.83 goals per game and is connecting on 7.1% of their shots, 11th overall. They are hitting on 11.1% of their power-play opportunities, 14th overall. Three players are tied for the team lead in points with three, including Matt Dumba, Jordan Greenway, and Jonas Brodin.
The Wild are allowing 2.33 goals per game during the playoffs and are killing off 85.7% of penalty killing situations, fourth-best in the postseason. Talbot is getting better as the playoffs go along, posting a 2.01 GAA and a .937 save percentage.
Vegas Blows Opportunity
The Golden Knights once held a 3-1 advantage in this series but lost on home ice before returning to St. Paul where they lost on Wednesday. Vegas had won the first two games of the series in Minnesota but now must win at home to advance. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 of 24 shots.
Vegas is averaging 2.33 goals per game and are connecting on 7.3% of their shots, ninth overall. They are connecting on 14.3% of power-play opportunities. Mark Stone leads Vegas with four goals and five points. Alex Tuch has three goals and four total points.
The Golden Knights are allowing 1.83 goals per game and are killing off 88.9% of shorthanded situations, third-best in the postseason. Fleury is continuing to put up solid numbers, allowing 1.66 goals on average, and has a .935 save percentage. However, he has allowed three goals in each of the last two games.
NHL Betting Trends:
Minnesota:
- 2-5 in their last seven games.
- 2-5 in their last seven games as the underdog.
Vegas:
- 37-14 in their last 51 games at home.
- 43-19 in their last 62 games.
NHL Picks
This is going to be an unbelievably tense contest. Minnesota is playing with house money right now, but they still want to advance. Vegas is going to be embarrassed if they lose on home ice in a Game 7. They still have the better goaltender and are playing at home. You have to believe in the Golden Knights.
Pick: Take Vegas at -182.
The Total:
No one is going to want to make a mistake in this contest, so you are going to see very few odd man rushes and a lot of spectacular goaltending. I believe you are not going to see more than three goals scored in this game, so you definitely want to go under. These teams have gone under in five of the last seven meetings, including four of the last five in Vegas.
Pick: Go under 5.5 at -141.