Minnesota Wild - Dallas Stars predictions and free betting tips [09/01/2024]

The Minnesota Wild will host the Dallas Stars in an upcoming NHL regular season match.

Minnesota Wild

Struggling as of late, the Minnesota Wild managed to get back on the winning track by stopping a four-game losing streak with a 4:3 overtime victory over Columbus. Previously, the team had lost to Tampa, Calgary, and Winnipeg twice. Injuries to top scorer Kirill Kaprizov, principal goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen, and the experienced Marcus Foligno have hit the roster. Nevertheless, after a change of coach, the Wild confidently picked up 8 wins from their last 13 games. During the victorious match against the Blue Jackets, Boldy shone with a double and an assist, Faber with two assists, and Zuccarello returned from injury with an assist. Caprizov continues to lead the team in points, scoring 34 including 13 goals.

The goaltending position is about to transition with Marc-Andre Fleury, who's reached historic heights, likely to take second place in NHL history in terms of victories. Following his 551st win over Columbus, where he pulled level with Patrick Roy, Fleury aims to break new ground, outdoing Martin Brodeur. Recently surpassing his 1000th NHL game, Fleury missed practice ahead of his next start and is highly likely to play against Dallas.

Dallas Stars

Facing a three-game losing streak, the Dallas Stars are due to play against a weakened Minnesota Wild team. After a recent 4:3 defeat to Nashville, where the team came back from behind only to concede two goals in the final period, the Stars are keen to improve their performance. The following games against Montreal and Tampa also resulted in losses, exacerbating team problems. However, prior to this, Dallas demonstrated their prowess by hammering Chicago 8:1, assisted by Mason Marchment’s hat-trick and Tyler Seguin's three points.

The Stars' goaltending position remains in flux - it's likely that Scott Wedgewood will play, having featured in the last 11 matches due to an injury to the primary goalie, Jake Oettinger. Initially strong, Wedgewood has shown inconsistent results in the last three matches. There is hope for the return of Oettinger soon. Russian forward Evgenii Dadonov has added 8 goals and 8 assists in 36 games, while Roope Hintz, Matt Duchene, and Joe Pavelski are also making significant attacking contributions. Team leader Jason Robertson continues to bring stability to the game with 11 goals and 26 assists. The Wild's main forward Mats Zuccarello returned in the game against Columbus after missing nine games due to an upper-body injury. He made one assist in the winning match and has already scored 16 points in the last 16 games, including 3 goals and 13 assists.

Head-to-Head

The Stars have 4 wins in the last 5 head-to-head matches. In their last game held on 13th November 2023, Dallas won convincingly with a score of 8:3. However, in October of the same year, Minnesota dominated, winning 4:0. In September 2023, Dallas won convincingly with a score of 6:1. The match prior to this, on April 29th 2023, also ended in Dallas’ favour with a score of 4:1.

Prediction for the Minnesota Wild - Dallas Stars match

Lately, the Wild have a string of injuries, missing their top player Kaprizov and most likely their main goalie Kaapo Kahkonen. Dallas, boasting a strong away record of 10-4-3, is on a 3-game losing streak. The Wild's offense has scored 3 or more goals only once in their last 5 matches. My prediction leans towards a victory for Dallas.