Nashville Predators at Minnesota Wild, NHL forecast
The short version
- No betting line is up yet, so this is our pre-line forecast: the Wild at 67%, from our Elo ratings and what past lines said about each team. It switches to the line once one posts.
- Behind that number: the Wild rate higher (1552 to 1493 Elo) and the Wild have home ice.
What's at stake
Each team's chance to make the playoffs if it wins this game and if it loses, from 10,000 simulations of the rest of the season.
Predators
Now 54%
60%
with a win
51%
with a loss
This game is worth 9 points of playoff chance to them.
Wild
Now 94%
95%
with a win
93%
with a loss
This game is worth 2 points of playoff chance to them.
The pick
No line is posted yet, so this is the pre-line forecast: Elo blended with ratings learned from past lines. It switches to the line once one is posted.
Wild 67%
Forecast Elo ratings alone
How often that comes true: NHL favorites the forecast gave 65–70% have won 67.6% of 306 graded games.
- Market
- No line yet
- Pre-line forecast
- MIN 67%
- Elo + market-implied
- Elo ratings
- MIN 64%
- Fair odds
- MIN -206
- NSH +206 · the forecast as odds, no margin
- Projected score
- NSH 2.6 – 3.6 MIN
- Margin from the forecast, total from team scoring ratings
How the number is built
Elo inputs in rating points (higher favors that team; 25–28 Elo is about a point of spread in football and basketball), then how the pieces combine.
| Factor | NSH | MIN | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team rating | 1493 | 1552 | Elo entering the game; 1500 is league average |
| Home field | — | +35 | Worth 35 Elo in the NHL |
| Starting goalies | +3 | +9 | NSH: Juuse Saros: team allows 0.08 fewer goals than with its usual starter (≈49 weighted starts) · MIN: Jesper Wallstedt: team allows 0.23 fewer goals than with its usual starter (≈37 weighted starts) |
| Elo ratings | MIN +100 Elo | MIN 64.0% | |
| Market-implied ratings | MIN 68.2% | Team strength as past closing lines priced it, same game context | |
| Pre-line forecast | MIN 67.4% | 20% Elo, 80% market-implied (log-odds blend) | |
Tale of the tape
This season coming into the game, regular season, each number with its league rank (the longer the bar, the higher). Home and road: the host's record at home against the visitor's on the road. Overtime and shootout losses count as losses in these records. Opponent Elo: how strong the teams each has played are, 1st the toughest. Shot share is a team's share of the shots on goal in its games. PDO adds shooting and save percentages: far from 100 tends to even out.
| NSH | Stat | MIN |
|---|---|---|
| 18th of 323.1 | Goals scored | 3.314th of 32 |
| 6th of 322.8 | Goals allowed | 2.21st of 32 |
| 11th of 32+0.2 | Margin | +1.04th of 32 |
| 27th of 3247.6% | Shot share | 53.3%5th of 32 |
| 4th of 3290.8% | Save percentage | 91.5%2nd of 32 |
| 8th of 326–4 | Last 10 | 7–32nd of 32 |
| 18th of 323–4 | Road vs home | 5–26th of 32 |
| 4th of 321520 | Opponent Elo | 149914th of 32 |
| 17th of 321493 | Elo rating | 15524th of 32 |
Rating history
Each team's Elo over the last two seasons. Hover or drag to compare on any date.
Injury report
Current ESPN report. Elo values show what the model subtracts.
Predators
1 listedJonathan Marchessault RW
Outout
Wild
2 listedFilip Gustavsson G
Injured ReserveGustavsson (hip) will travel with the Wild during the team's upcoming three-game road trip, per Joe Smith of The Athletic.
Brock Faber D
Injured ReserveFaber (skull) skated with his teammates for the first time Thursday, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports.
Recent form
Last five results, and whether the forecast hit.
Against the line
How each team has done against the closing spread and total, coming into this game.
| This season |  NSH |  MIN |
|---|---|---|
| Puck line | 12–5 | 12–7 |
| Last 10 | 8–2 | 7–3 |
| Favorite | 0–2 | 8–7 |
| Underdog | 12–3 | 4–0 |
| Overs–unders | 8–9 | 6–13 |
| Overs–unders, last 10 | 5–5 | 3–7 |
Against each game's closing line. Books set every line knowing these records: across 3,901 past games, the team with the better record against the spread so far that season covered 51.2%, short of the 52.4% a standard −110 bet needs, and over/under streaks held 48.0% of the time. They describe the past.
Head to head
NSH 5–7 MIN in their last 12 meetings; the forecast called 9 of 12.