Minnesota Wild at Winnipeg Jets odds, picks and predictions

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The Minnesota Wild (1-0-1) meet the Winnipeg Jets (2-0-0) at Canada Life Centre Sunday. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Wild vs. Jets odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.

Season series: First meeting; Jets won 4-0 in 2023-24

The Wild picked up a 3-2 win in the regular-season opener Thursday against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, cashing as a heavy favorite (-266), but they did not cash on the puck line as the Under (6.5) cashed.

Minnesota was in action against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, and it suffered a wild 5-4 loss in a shootout at the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul. Last season, when playing on no rest, the Wild was 6-6-3, with a minus-6 goal differential, while the Over cashed at a 9-5-1 clip.

The Jets spanked the Edmonton Oilers 6-0 on the road Wednesday in the opener as a moderate underdog (+161), while pushing against the total (6). Things were a little tighter Friday, winning 2-1 in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks as a heavy favorite (-258), although they came nowhere near covering the puck line as the Under (6) comfortably cashed.

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Wild at Jets odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of NHL odds. Lines last updated Saturday at 6:34 a.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML): Wild +125 (bet $100 to win $125) | Jets -155 (bet $155 to win $100)
Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Wild +1.5 (-190) | Jets -1.5 (+155)
Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: +100 | U: -120)

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Wild at Jets projected goalies

Jesper Wallstedt (2-1-0, 3.01 GAA, .897 SV%, 1 SO in 2023-24) vs. Connor Hellebuyck (2-0-0, 0.50 GAA, .982 SV%, 1 SO)

Wallstedt is expected to make his 4th career NHL start, and 1st of the season. The 21-year-old Swede was a 1st-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the Wild. He won his final 2 starts last season in Chicago and in San Jose, turning aside 51 of the 53 shots he faced.

The 31-year-old Hellebuyck has gotten off to a tremendous start, kicking aside all 30 shots he faced in the opener in Edmonton for his 38th career shutout. He stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced in the OTW against the Blackhawks on Friday.

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Wild at Jets picks and predictions

Prediction

Jets 4, Wild 1

Moneyline

The JETS (-155) are a solid play as moderate favorites, and it’s actually a little surprising that Winnipeg isn’t favored by a little more.

The Jets have won 5 straight meetings in this series, outscoring the Wild (+125) by a 17-9 margin last season, and 20-10 margin in the past 5 meetings.

Puck line/Against the spread

If you’re a little more adventurous, forget about the moneyline and roll with the JETS -1.5 (+155) at plus-money.

We’ll pick on the Wild +1.5 (-190) backup tendy Wallstedt. While, yes, he was impressive down the stretch last season, he had soft landing spots facing the lowly Blackhawks and the toothless Sharks attack. He’ll have his hands full trying to shut down a red-hot Winnipeg team which has fired out of the gate with 2 straight wins.

In Winnipeg’s 5 straight wins in this series, it has won 4 of those meetings by 2 or more goals. So, if you like the Jets to win, you should like them to cover the puck line, too.

Over/Under

UNDER 6 (-120) is worth a look, so consider a half-unit play at the most.

The Wild cashed the Under in the opener against Columbus, while the Over cashed in Saturday’s clash with the Kraken.

For the Jets, the Under is 1-0-1, and that’s because Hellebuyck has been a brick wall so far. And, in the Winnipeg 5-game win streak in this series, the Under has a slight 2-1-2 edge. Hellebuyck is almost solely the reason why to slam the Under here.

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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.

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