Vegas Golden Knights vs. Minnesota Wild Game 3 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
Kirill Kaprizov put the team on his back with three points in the Wild’s 5-2 win on Tuesday, putting him atop playoff scoring with five points in two games. The shots were lopsided in the Golden Knights’ favour, 32-17, but Filip Gustavsson answered the bell for Minny, stopping 30 for his third career playoff win.
The NHL odds have Vegas as -150 favourites, and the game total is sitting at 5.5 goals. Puck drop for Game 3 from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul is set for 9 p.m. ET.
Golden Knights vs. Wild NHL Betting Odds
The series is now a best-of-five with three of those remaining games being played in St. Paul. Vegas is still the -228 favourite to win the series even after losing home ice advantage. A 4-2 Vegas series win is the most likely outcome at +280. The Wild are proving they will not be an easy out, and a Minnesota win pays out +185.
Matt Boldy is now up to three goals in the series after opening the scoring in Game 2. He is still a +140 favourite to lead the series in goals on our NHL futures board. Kaprizov is right behind him at +240, with two goals of his own.
This series has been high scoring so far, playing the OVER in both games. Minnesota’s win snapped a streak of six straight that went Vegas’ way.
Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas controlled the play for big parts of Game 2, especially out of the gate, outshooting the Wild 5-0 before the five-minute mark of the first. They did not score their first goal until after the halfway point of the game, as Noah Hanifin scored on the team’s 17th shot of the game. His third career postseason marker dragged the Knights back into the fight, cutting the lead to 4-1.
They got on the board again early in the third on Tomas Hertl’s second of the series, bringing them to 4-2. Despite throwing 10 more shots at the Wild net, they could not get another past Gustavsson, and an empty net goal sealed the deal on a 5-2 loss.
Adin Hill did not have his best game in goal for the Knights, allowing four goals on 16 shots. Hill has not faced many shots in this series, stopping 30 of the 36 shots through the first two games. He played 50 games this season, so it is unlikely they will turn to Ilya Samsonov at any point this series.
Minnesota Wild
To say the Wild missed their leading scorer in the back half of the season is an understatement. Kaprizov has driven all the offence for the Wild through Games 1 and 2 with his two goals and three assists. The whole top line has been clicking since Kirill and Joel Eriksson Ek returned to play with Matt Boldy, who has scored three goals in the series.
Minnesota did not play a physical game all season, ranking in the bottom 10 teams in hits, but the game plan has changed in the postseason. They hit the Knights 54 times in Game 1 and played hard again on Tuesday, with 37 hits, hoping to wear down the bigger, more experienced team. Marcus Foligno is the main contributor to this lopsided stat, throwing 23 hits so far in the series. Not only is he hard to play against but he scored the Wild’s second goal in Game 2, the third playoff goal of his career.
After an impressive regular season, Gustavsson is showing up big time in the playoffs as well. His .914 save percentage has kept the Wild in the series and is a huge reason this thing is tied up as they head back to Minny.
VEG
MIN