Wild vs Avalanche Prediction, Prop Picks & Projected Starting Goalies (Mar. 8)

• The Colorado Avalanche are -166 home favorites against the Minnesota Wild Sunday afternoon
• Minnesota has the second-most road wins of any team in the Western Conference
• See my Wild vs Avalanche prediction, prop bets and projected staring goalies below

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It’s by far hockey’s most dominant division, and two of the top teams in the Central collide Sunday, when the Colorado Avalanche (42-10-9) host the Minnesota Wild (37-16-10).

With 84 points, the Wild would be outright leaders in two of the four divisions in the NHL, but in the bloodbath that is the Central, they’re third, trailing the NHL-leading Avs and the Dallas Stars.

And they’re slight road underdogs in the latest NHL odds.

Puck drop is set for 2pm ET from Ball Arena in Denver, with TNT, HBO Max and truTV providing the broadcast coverage.

Check my Wild vs Avalanche prediction below, complete with prop bets, and projected starting goalies.

Wild vs Avalanche Odds

Odds as of March 7. The interactive table above will automatically update as the NHL odds move over the course of the day.

Picking the Wild to win outright on the road comes with +140 odds, and taking Colorado to win is a less enticing -170. Both of those odds are provided by BetMGM.

On the puckline, Minnesota is getting 1.5 goals at -164 odds at FanDuel, while DraftKings is also giving the Avs 1.5 goals, but at a turn-away rate of -505.

As for the total, it’s set at 6.5 goals, with the Over at +104 on FanDuel and the Under at -115 on bet365.

Wild vs Avalanche Prediction

• Under 6.5 goals (-128 at FanDuel)

It’s hard to believe, but because of the current NHL playoff structure, one of the Avs, Stars, or Wild — three teams ranked in the Top 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup odds — will be eliminated in Round 1.

Since returning from the Olympics, it’s the Avs that have not skipped a beat. They beat Dallas 5-4 in a shootout to extend their win streak to four games, and they are 5-1-0 in six games, scoring 3.67 goals per game and allowing 2.50.

They also didn’t sit back at the NHL trade deadline, bolstering their roster with arguably the best player acquired in Nazem Kadri, who will solidify the center position behind all-world Nathan MacKinnon.

Colorado also added forward Nicolas Roy from Toronto and Nick Blankenburg from the Predators. All three are expected in the lineup for Sunday.

Wild vs Avalanche Key Stats

While not as splashy, Minnesota did work on its roster, mostly solidifying their back-end forwards and defenseman, acquiring forwards Nick Foligno (Blackhawks), Bobby Brink (Flyers), Michael McCarron (Predators) and defenseman Jeff Petry (Panthers).

Minnesota is one of the best road teams in the West, with a 19-9-3 record. The only teams with better away records than them? You guessed it: Colorado and Dallas are the only teams in the conference touching 20 Ws.

The Wild are 5-2-0 on the road in their last seven, with one of those wins coming in Colorado, putting down a 5-2 thumping on the Avalanche.

In fact, they’ve won three of their last four against the Avs, and have held them to two goals or less in those wins. The Under has cashed in four of the last six between these teams.

While Colorado is the highest scoring team in the league, they’re also tops in goals against. The Wild are eighth, and I think defense wins out again, keeping that total Under 6.5 goals.

Wild vs Avalanche Prop Bets

• Nathan MacKinnon anytime goal (+115 at FanDuel)

There aren’t many teams that Nathan MacKinnon hasn’t lit up, and Minnesota is no exception. Against the Wild, he has points in 12 of his last 14, including 11 goals. The league’s leading goal scorer should be prominent again Sunday.

Nathan MacKinnon with the tying goal for the Avs late in the second period. Those saves from Blackwood giving them this opportunity.#GoAvsGo | #mnwild pic.twitter.com/xwlU976XVl

— Crash the Net (@CrashTheNet_) January 20, 2025

• Kirill Kaprizov anytime goal (+140 at FanDuel)

While MacKinnon has dominated the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov has been nearly as impressive when he laces them up against the Avalanche.

He has recorded points in 12 straight games against Colorado, including six multi-point efforts. On top of that, he has 13 goals in the last 14 games against the Avalanche, failing to light the lamp in just five of those games.

Wild vs Avalanche Projected Starting Goalies

Minnesota has confirmed its starting goalie for Sunday, while it’s believed MacKenzie Blackwood gets the call. Check out their stats below.

Filip Gustavsson vs MacKenzie Blackwood

Filip Gustavsson has won two straight starts against the Avs, but overall, it’s been a struggle for him, as he’s 3-7-1 in 11 career games with a goals against average of 3.56 and a save percentage of .898.

Blackwood has six starts against the Wild as a member of the Avs, with his three career wins against them coming with Colorado. Overall, he’s 3-5-2 in 10 career starts, with a 2.59 GAA and a save percentage of .911.