Minnesota vs Philadelphia: The Wild easily beat the East's outsider

Minnesota defeated Philadelphia in their first head-to-head meeting of the season, 5-4. Will Mike Yeo's men be able to get revenge in this upcoming encounter? Our prediction is that the Wild will once again be closer to success!

Minnesota are having a very strong regular season and will finally be fighting in earnest for the Stanley Cup in the upcoming playoffs. The Wild have been slowly making progress over the past few years and now they've made it. Dean Evason's team avoided major setbacks during the regular season and now they've made great strides. In the last six games, the Red and Green have not lost a single point, although their opponents were strong teams. Just look at the victory over Colorado - 3-2, which they managed to achieve the day before. A series of successful games allowed the Wild to climb to third place in the Western Conference standings.

Philadelphia are the main disappointment of this season. For the second year in a row, the Flyers missed out on cup battles, but a year ago they at least struggled to make the playoffs, but now they are hopeless outsiders in the league. For this reason, they have just recently had to part with some of the club's veterans, including Derick Brassard, Dustin Brown and, of course, Claude Giroux. Obviously, the Orange are already playing out the current regular season without any tournament motivation. Mike Yeo's men have managed just three wins and seven losses in their last ten meetings, dropping to 14th place in the Western Conference standings.

Minnesota and Philadelphia are very different teams at the moment. If the Wild are among the leaders in the West, with six straight wins, the Flyers have won only three of their last ten games and are among the outsiders in the East. Moreover, while the St Paul's squad was strengthening its squad, the Pennsylvanians suffered losses, including perennial leader Claude Giroux. Obviously, the hosts are the favorites for the upcoming battle, and you can bet on Minnesota to win with a handicap (-1.5) for 1.83.

The rivalry between Minnesota and Philadelphia has been extremely inconclusive for a long time, but lately, the teams seem to be off the chain. In the four previous four head-to-head encounters, the opponents combined for 34 goals (8.50 goals per game average), a very respectable total for the NHL. What's more, the Wild are on fire right now and are scoring goals on an industrial scale, while the Flyers have nothing to lose, so they can't afford to shut down their defence. Therefore, Total Over 6.5 goals for 2.18 might be the best option to make a prediction.

Marcus Foligno is one of the more experienced players on the roster of the young and feisty Minnesota Wild. For the Wild, he is already in his fifth season, but the current regular season has been the best of his career. In 60 games played, the American forward has already scored 33 points (19 goals + 14 assists), seven more than his personal best. The 30-year-old hockey player is obviously in top form at the moment, so it's worth taking a closer look at Marcus Foligno's Total Over 0.5 point for 2.11.

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