Many think the Minnesota Wild have virtually no chance in their series against the Dallas Stars. The two teams might've finished 22 points apart from each other, but everyone is 0-0 now in the postseason, a point which Minnesota will try to prove in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
Stanley Cup Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Minnesota Wild +135
Dallas Stars -160
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Stars have won their last six at home. The Wild have lost their last five overall. It definitely isn't a coincidence that Dallas is a hefty -160 favorite in Game 1 of this series.
The Stars also went 4-1 in the five meetings this year between the two teams, but it should be noted that three of the four Dallas wins did go to overtime. The underdog team went a perfect 5-0 against the puck-line in the regular season as well.
GOALIE REPORT
Devan Dubnyk actually had a pretty good season considering the fact that his team was offensively challenged, but he has his work cut out for him here against the best offensive team in the league. In spite of his 32-26-6 record and 2.33 GAA, Dubnyk allowed 13 goals in his last four starts, and that isn't going to cut it in the second season.
Dallas has yet to announce its plans for the playoffs with its goaltenders. Neither one had a particularly good year, as Antti Niemi had a 2.67 GAA against Kari Lehtonen's 2.76 GAA. We'd guess that Lehtonen ends up in the pipes in Game 1, but at the first sign of trouble, it's always nice to be able to call in a backup who has won the Stanley Cup before off the bench.
LIVE BETTING
The Stars have three players on their roster who netted 33 or more goals this season. Jamie Benn is clearly the best of the bunch with his 41 goals and 48 helpers. Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza both ended with 33 goals this year.
Minnesota meanwhile, only had three players with 50+ points, and Zach Parise led the team with just 25 goals.
That's the difference between an offense which averaged 3.26 goals per game and one which averaged 2.63 goals per game.
QUICK PICK
We've got a little bit of a concern here about the Stars and their lack of playoff experience, but adding Patrick Sharp could really help regulate things during a potentially touch and go opening series.
Throw in the fact that both Parise and Erik Haula are nursing injuries which have them listed as day-to-day and Thomas Vanek is out for at least the first few games of this series, and the Wild are potentially in a lot of trouble.
As long as pressure doesn't start to mount for Dallas, we expect it will win at least the first two games of this series. The club is playing too well on both sides of the ice right now, and with the Wild closing out the season with just six goals scored in their last five games, we doubt they'll have enough in the tank to be able to hang around with the best offensive team in the NHL league on their home ice.
Unless Dubnyk really stands on his head, Minnesota will fall down 1-0 in Big D.
NHL Odds: Stars 3, Wild 1
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