Minnesota Wild vs Vegas Golden Knights 13 October 2026 Prediction

Minnesota Wild vs Vegas Golden Knights brings together two strong starters from different Western Conference divisions. Minnesota has won the last three meetings, but Vegas enters this game near the top of the standings.

Minnesota Has Been Tough to Score Against

Goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, whom Minnesota drafted in 2021, is allowing 1.8 goals per game this season. He gave up just one goal in a 4-1 win over Florida despite the Panthers generating 3.9 expected goals. The Wild also converted 13.8% of their shots in that game, with Kirill Kaprizov scoring a hat trick.

Minnesota has seven points through five games and sits among the Western Conference leaders. Its only game without a point was a 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay, when the Wild allowed two first-period goals just 36 seconds apart.

Minnesota Predicted Lineup: Wallstedt (Pickard) — Hughes, Spurgeon — Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, Boldy

Additional Roster Players: Defensemen — Määttä, Brodin, Hunt, Spacek; forwards — Coleman, Hartman, Shabanov, Lorentz, Yurov, Brink, Sturm, McCarron, Trenin

Injuries and Questionable Players: Faber, Gustavsson, N. Foligno (injured); M. Foligno, Bogosian (questionable)

Manager: John Hynes

Vegas Has Started Strong on Offense

Despite initial skepticism about Ryan Craig’s appointment as manager, Vegas leads the Western Conference and has lost only to Anaheim, 4-3. The Golden Knights also came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Toronto 4-3 in a shootout.

Vegas is scoring 3.8 goals per game, one of the NHL’s highest averages. Its power play accounted for both goals in a 2-1 overtime win over Los Angeles. Jack Eichel has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) this season.

Vegas Predicted Lineup: Hart (Hill) — McNabb, Theodore — Barbashev, Eichel, Stone

Additional Roster Players: Defensemen — Wotherspoon, Andersson, Lauzon, Hanifin; forwards — Howden, Karlsson, Marner, Connelly, Hertl, Lavoie, Bowman, Dowd, Gatcomb

Unavailable: Olofsson (injured)

Manager: Ryan Craig

Minnesota Has Won the Recent Meetings

Minnesota won the teams’ only meeting in 2026, 4-2, converting 16.7% of its shots. The Wild also won their December matchup 5-2.

Key Stats

Vegas generates 3.7 expected goals per game, fourth-most in the NHL.

Minnesota allows 0.4 goals per game in the third period, the league’s third-lowest mark.

The Golden Knights average 32.2 shots per game. Only three teams average more.

Minnesota Wild vs Vegas Golden Knights Prediction: Minnesota Wild Moneyline at 2.00

Main pick: Minnesota has won all three recent meetings with Vegas, holding the Golden Knights to exactly two goals each time. The Wild have also won two of their last three home games, including preseason play. The pick is Minnesota Wild moneyline at 2.00. A 3-2 Minnesota win is a higher-risk correct-score pick.

Goals pick: Three of the last five meetings finished with fewer than six goals, as have all of Minnesota’s games this season. Vegas’s most recent game had just two goals in regulation. The pick is under 5.5 total goals at 2.20.