Wild vs. Red Wings: Minnesota showing no love for the Eastern Conference
72. Monday, Feb. 14. 98. Wild -1.5. 7 p.m. CST. 22-21-6. Bally Sports North. 29-11-3
The Minnesota Wild ends a two-game home stand with a Valentine’s Day matchup against the Detroit Red Wings.
But the Wild has shown no love to Eastern Conference opponents this season. With a 3-2 win over Carolina on Saturday night, Minnesota improved to 13-1-2 in 16 games against the East. The lone regulation loss came against the Florida Panthers in late November.
https://twitter.com/mnwild/status/1493287723909664775
Minnesota also hasn’t been very hospitable to opponents in general this season. The Wild have gained at least a point in their last dozen games in St. Paul and have won the last five. The latter being the fourth-longest current home winning streak in the NHL..
Minnesota also is 15-2-1 overall at home this season and has outscored its opponents 59-27 over the past dozen games at the Xcel Energy Center.
Kaapo Kahkonen is expected to get the start in net for the Wild on Monday as the Wild continue a recent trend of rotating their two goalies. Cam Talbot stopped 37 of 39 shots on Saturday in his first post-All Star Game start.
Kahkohnen, who got the start in last Tuesday’s loss in Winnipeg, is 10-3-2 on the season with a 2.44 goals against average. Monday will mark his first career start against the Red Wings.
The Wild have an all-time mark of 21-28-12 against Detroit that includes a 11-10-9 record at the Xcel Energy Center. This is the first meeting between the teams in nearly two years, since the Wild’s 7-1 win in Detroit on Feb. 27, 2020.
Wild injuries
Matt Dumba, who played Saturday night after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury, is out again with a lower body injury.
Nick Bjugstad, who has missed the last dozen games, remains out of the lineup as well.
Kaapo Kahkonen starts tonight for the #mnwild. Matt Dumba won’t play due to a lower-body injury.
— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) February 14, 2022
Betting odds
The Wild vs. Red Wings odds on WynnBET has Minnesota favored by 1.5 goals at the Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota also is the favorite on the moneyline at -230. Detroit is the underdog at +195. The over/under for total goals is six.
Upcoming schedule
Wednesday, Feb 16: @Winnipeg, 6 p.m. CST
Friday, Feb. 18: Florida, 7 p.m. CST
Sunday, Feb. 20: @Edmonton , 7 p.m. CST