The Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild were impressive for different reasons in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While the Avs dominated the Los Angeles Kings in a sweep, trailing for only 3 minutes and 21 seconds throughout the series, the Wild were resilient in their six-game triumph over the Dallas Stars.
Minnesota’s victory, its first playoff series win since 2015, was a head-turner, but the market is still siding with the Avs in a big way. Colorado is -245 to advance to the Western Conference Finals at FanDuel, and it is a -205 favorite in Game 1 on Sunday evening.
Minnesota’s win over Dallas was decided by a couple of factors.
First and foremost, the Wild won the goaltending battle with Jesper Wallstedt outlasting Jake Oettinger. Wallstedt was especially dominant at 5-on-5, posting a ridiculous .973 save percentage.
The Swedish netminder was the key to Minnesota outscoring Dallas, 14-4, at 5-on-5, but he wasn’t the only reason. The Wild also got monster performances from their biggest stars.
Quinn Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber were all difference-makers in the best-of-7 against Dallas, and they will be brimming with confidence going up against Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and the Avalanche.
If you’re going to have any chance against Colorado, you need your best players to be at their best, and Minnesota has that going for it right now.
The Wild should also be confident that their penalty kill, which struggled against Dallas, will stand a chance against Colorado’s scuffling power play. The Avs converted at just 17.1 percent in the regular season, and clicked at 9.1 percent against the Kings.
If Wallstedt and Minnesota’s stars roll their form into Game 1, they have every chance of getting off on the right foot in Round 2.
The Play: Wild moneyline (+168, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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