Wild vs Kings Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight - NHL

A lot is on the line tonight when the Los Angeles Kings host the Minnesota Wild as a -150 favorite with both clubs coming off wins last night and in the thick of a Western Conference battle for playoff life and positioning. 

With each side going to their backups and the recent play of Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, are the Wild’s plus-money odds the side to back in a game that should be low-scoring? 

I break down the NHL odds and offer my free best NHL picks for Wild vs. Kings for Wednesday, March 20.  

Wild vs Kings odds

Wild vs Kings predictions

The Minnesota Wild enter LA tonight as a +130 road dog. They are on the second of a back-to-back after a shutout win over the Anaheim Ducks last night, but the Los Angeles Kings also played at home in a convincing win over another bad team, the Chicago Blackhawks. The current moneyline indicates that the Kings are 20 points better than the Wild on neutral ice and I don’t see that.

These are two even teams who both deserve to be favorites vs. the other on home ice. The Wild have the better 5-on-5 metrics across the board over the last 10 games, the better goal differential since the All-Star break, and the fifth-best point percentage over that stretch. They’ll also have the edge in net with both clubs handing things over to the backups.

Marc-Andre Fleury might not be the No.1 in Minnesota right now but that’s not for a lack of production. The veteran netminder is 5-1-1 over his last seven starts with a miniscule 1.69 GAA to go along with a .937 save percentage. He's allowed two or fewer goals in six of those seven games and faces an LA offense that ranks 22nd in goals per game since February and 23rd in expected goals/60 at 5-on-5 over the last 10 games.

Flower will keep things close in what I’m expecting to be another low-scoring game as both of these clubs enter with a 6-14 O/U mark over their last 10 games. Minnesota’s offense has a chance to get an early lead and sit on it with David Rittich likely in net for the home side.

Since blanking the Oilers following the ASB, the now-backup goalie is 4-4 SU with a sub-.900 save percentage over eight games. He will likely see a lot of Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov who leads the league in goals since the break at 17 while riding a five-game scoring streak.

With the total falling and the books continuing to overvalue the Kings, getting the Wild at +130 on the ML is better than any prop in this game. Things should be very close tonight considering what’s at stake and similar schedule spots. 

My best bet: Wild moneyline (+130 at bet365)

Wild vs Kings same-game parlay

The Wild ML is a great play on its own at the +130 price but because I'm bumping up the total to 6.5 and betting the Under with a Ryan Hartman assist (+200 alone) that's giving a decent multiplier, the +800 odds are looking good if you want a bigger play.

This is going to be a close Game and the Wild have been very top-heavy with their scoring. Hartman has fit in with the L1s very easily and got an assist last night at +170. Kaprizov is scoring more than anyone in the league and his linemates just want to get him the puck. Hartman also plays PP1 with Matt Boldy and Kaprizov so the familiarity is there. 

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Wild vs Kings moneyline and Over/Under analysis

• The moneyline movement hasn’t been uniform. Some books opened the Kings as -155 favorites, hit as long as -140, and then moved back to -155 (bet365). While some other books opened as long as -145 and have stayed in that range, plus or minus five points. The total opened at 6 and has seen Under move it to pretty much 5.5 across the board. The last available 6s were around 10 or 10:30 am ET today. Shopping around can certainly be advantageous today for bettors.
• Both teams are coming convincing wins vs. bad teams last night with the only schedule advantage being with LA who remains home for both games while the Wild had to go from Anaheim to LA which is an easy trip. On the season, LA is 2-7 SU on the second game of a back-to-back scoring 2.22 goals per game while the Wild are 4-8 SU on the second game of a B2B scoring 2.9 goals per game.
• The Wild are dealing with the more significant injuries. Joel Eriksson Ek is still out but Ryan Hartman has filled in well on the top line which has been red-hot. The bigger concern is with Jonas Brodin who exited the last game and is out for tonight. He was playing over 23 minutes a game so the loss is certainly worth five or more points but it does seem priced in. 

Wild vs Kings betting trend to know

The Minnesota Wild have hit the 3P Moneyline in 7 of their last 9 games (+5.45 Units / 50% ROI). Find more NHL betting trends for Wild vs. Kings.

Wild vs Kings game info

Wild vs Kings latest injuries

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