Minnesota Wild vs Vegas Golden Knights: Game 1 preview, predictions and odds | Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1, April 20, 2025

The Minnesota Wild are on the road to play the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, April 20, at 10 p.m. ET in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Minnesota was the top wild-card team, finishing with a record of 45-30-7. Vegas, meanwhile, won the Pacific with a record of 50-22-10.

Wild vs Golden Knights: Head-to-head & key stats

Minnesota went 0-3 against Vegas this season
The Wild are averaging 2.74 goals per game
Vegas is 29-9-3 at home
Minnesota is allowing 2.87 goals per game
The Golden Knights are averaging 3.34 goals per game
The Wild went 23-13-5 on the road
Vegas is allowing 2.6 goals per game

Minnesota Wild vs Vegas Golden Knights: Preview

Minnesota made it into the playoffs despite key injuries to Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, who are now healthy. The Wild were led by Matt Boldy, who had 73 points. Marco Rossi had 60 points, Kirill Kaprizov had 56 points, and Mats Zuccarello had 54 points.

The Wild will start Filip Gustavsson, who went 31-19-6 with a 2.56 GAA and a .914 SV%. In his career against Vegas, he's 1-3-1 with a 2.76 GAA and a .911 SV%.

Vegas, meanwhile, finished atop the Pacific division. The Golden Knights will start Adin Hill, who went 32-13-5 with a 2.47 GAA and a .906 SV%. In his career against Minnesota, he's 3-4 with a 2.29 GAA and a .906 SV%.

The Golden Knights were led by Jack Eichel, who had 94 points, Mark Stone had 67 points, Tomas Hertl had 61 points, and Shea Theodore had 57 points.

Wild vs Golden Knights: Odds & Prediction

Minnesota is a +164 underdog while Vegas is a -198 favorite, and the over/under is set at 5.5 goals.

The Wild snuck into the playoffs but have to go up against Vegas, one of the Cup favorites. The Golden Knights were stellar at home, and that should continue in Game 1 here.

Vegas will be able to score on Gustavsson and Hill will limit the scoring as the Golden Knights will get a big win here.

Prediction: Golden Knights 3, Wild 1.

Wild vs Golden Knights: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Vegas ML (-198)

Tip 2: Under 5.5 goals (-115)

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton