Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars Odds: 2016 NHL Playoffs
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Mike Schultz
After missing the post season in 2014-15, the Dallas Stars have clawed their way back to the top of the Western Conference and are in the playoffs for the second time in eight years. They’ll be facing the Minnesota Wild, who will be making their fourth consecutive playoff appearance. The Stars will be starting without one of their most effective players, as Tyler Seguin is out with a sliced achilles, which is a painful thing to even type, let alone recover from. Out of the five times these two teams met in the regular season, the Stars won four times, although three of those games were decided in overtime. This battle might be more closely matched than the series odds suggest.
Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1: Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars
Series Winner Odds:Minnesota +214, Dallas -320
Game Dates: 4/14 @ DAL, 4/16 @ DAL, 4/18 @ MIN, 4/20 @ MIN, *4/22 @ DAL, *4/24 @ MIN, *4/26 @ DAL
Home Team Advantage: Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars were at the top of the league in terms of scoring this season, thanks to the efforts of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Seguin will miss part of the series with his injury, but is slated to return mid-series. Veteran Jason Spezza was given a chance to shine with Seguin sidelined, and he did just that, racking up nine points in nine games. In goal, the Stars had some trouble this year, with Kari Lehtonen posting a 2.76 GAA before heating up in the tail end of the season. If they do face a struggle against the Wild, it will be most obvious between the pipes.
Minnesota Wild
The Wild has a lot of depth at forward, with an enviable group of centers that should keep the Dallas D on their toes. Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund and Erik Haula are all coming off of solid seasons. They have some major hurdles to overcome however, with Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek both out indefinitely, and with a weak penalty kill and just average power play, they may stumble facing the Stars. They do have some good power on the blue line, with Ryan Suter, and Devan Dubnyk has been a reliable netminder for the club, and was 32-26-6 with a 2.33 GAA and .918 SV% this year.
Prediction: Stars in 7