The Minnesota Wild might be playing their final home game of the season on Saturday night. Minnesota is currently down 2-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Golden Knights have looked great in their last two wins over the Wild. If the Wild want to even the series and potentially upset the favored Golden Knights, they will have to score some goals as they have found the back of the net just four times in three games this series.
Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild Game 4 Betting
When: Saturday, May 22, 2021, 8 p.m. ET
Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
TV: NBC
Vegas Golden Knights -1.5
Minnesota Wild +1.5
Total 5.5
NHL Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Although the Golden Knights were favored to win this series, this was considered to be a tricky matchup for them. After beating Minnesota in their first two meetings this season, Vegas lost five straight games to the Wild. They lost in every way imaginable before finally stopping the streak back on May 5 with a 3-2 overtime win.
Minnesota won the first game in this series 1-0 as Cam Talbot was superb in net. Talbot stopped all 42 shots he saw against the Golden Knights, giving the Wild an early series lead. However, the Golden Knights roared back in Game 2 with a 3-1 win. Matt Dumba lit the lamp first for the Wild, but Jonathan Marchessault leveled the score just 18 seconds later.
Alex Tuch made it 2-1 Vegas five minutes later and then Tuch notched a power play goal with a minute left in the third period to ice the game.
On Thursday night, the Wild opened the scoring for the third straight game. Minnesota lit the lamp twice in the first ten minutes behind its hometown fans. They nearly made it 3-0, but a Joel Eriksson Ek goal was called back for being offsides, and the Golden Knights turned it on from there. Vegas scored three times in less than nine minutes in the second period with Mark Stone, Patrick Brown, and Reilly Smith finding the back of the net. The Golden Knights hung on and eventually scored twice late in the third period to seal the win.
What to Watch
Although the Wild took an early lead in Game 3, Minnesota was outshot 40-16 by Vegas. The Golden Knights swarmed the net after a rough first period and did not let the Wild back into the game after the comeback started. They continually hounded Talbot, and they will look to take that motivation into Game 4.
Marc-Andre Fleury was a rock between the pipes for Vegas this season with a 1.98 GAA and a .928 save percentage. He has a good chance to win his first Vezina Trophy, and he has shown that the Pittsburgh Penguins made a mistake by getting rid of him. His strong play has continued this postseason with even better numbers in a 1.33 GAA and a .951 save percentage.
Few teams have the depth that Vegas possesses either. Mark Stone led the team in scoring with 61 points during the regular season, and Max Pacioretty was second with 51 points. Pacioretty is banged up and hasn’t taken the ice since May 1 though, so it’s hard to count on him being ready for Saturday night. Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson are still playing well though, and Vegas has a great blue line.
Cam Talbot had a decent year with the Wild, posting a 2.63 GAA and a .915 save percentage. He has largely played well in the postseason, but he needs some help up front.
There just aren’t a lot of great options at forward for Minnesota. Kirill Kaprizov led the Wild with 51 points, but the only other player with more than 35 points this season was Kevin Fiala. A healthy Mats Zuccarello should help though as he missed a good chunk of the year.
Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild Free Pick
The visitors are going to be too much for the Wild. Vegas is deeper and has more talent, and the Golden Knights will make a statement early since they have yet to score a first period goal in this series.
Golden Knights at Wild Best Bet: Vegas Golden Knights -1.5
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