Season Opener for Minnesota
A couple of playoff teams from a season ago meet up on Thursday night in St. Paul for the Rangers vs Wild matchup. It’s the 2022/23 debut for Minnesota, who were 53-22-7 last year while finishing with the second most points in the Western Conference (113). That did not translate into postseason success though as the Wild lost their first round series against St. Louis 4-2.
The Rangers were 52-24-6 last season, making a somewhat surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals where they lost 4 games to 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. New York had a rematch of that series on Tuesday to kick off their 2022/23 season, beating Tampa Bay 3-1.
The offshore books have New York an underdog on Thursday night, and although it will be an electric atmosphere in the Twin Cities goaltender Igor Shesterkin is one of the ultimate equalizers in the NHL. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner has started his season the same way, stopping 25 of 26 Lighting shots in Tuesday’s win. Mika Zibanejad added one short-handed and one power play goal in that season opening victory.
The Wild being at home, where they were 31-8-2 last season, gives them value on the odds as well. Minnesota also posted a top five scoring offense a year ago (3.7 goals/game) but we will see how the loss of Kevin Fiala (85 points) to the Kings. The Wild still have Kirill Kaprizov (108 points) and return Marc-Andre Fleury in net so they should be fine.
| Offshore Sportsbook | Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetOnline | Rangers (+124)| Wild (-137) | 6 | Rangers +1.5(-212) | Wild -1.5 (+182) |
| Bovada | Rangers (+125)| Wild (-145) | 6 | Rangers +1.5(-220) | Wild -1.5 (+180) |
| BetUS | Rangers (+120)| Wild (-140) | 6 | Rangers +1.5(-220) | Wild -1.5 (+180) |
| SportsBetting.ag | Rangers (+124)| Wild (-137) | 6 | Rangers +1.5(-212) | Wild -1.5 (+182) |
| Pinnacle | Rangers (+123)| Wild (-136) | 6 | Rangers +1.5(-218) | Wild -1.5 (+193) |
| MyBookie | Rangers (+113)| Wild (-139) | 6 | Rangers +1.5(-211) | Wild -1.5 (+171) |
Rangers vs Wild October 13 Prediction
Really the only way to attack this matchup of playoff teams from last year is on the total. When you’ve got Shesterkin and Fleury between the pipes goals are going to be hard to come by so play the under.
Rangers 2 – Wild 1
