The Minnesota Wild (1-0), coming off a 5-0 win over the St. Louis Blues, host the Columbus Blue Jackets (0-1) at Grand Casino Arena on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The Blue Jackets were defeated by the Nashville Predators 2-1 in their most recent outing.

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Ahead of watching this matchup, here is our prediction for which squad will emerge victorious in Saturday's hockey action.

Wild vs. Blue Jackets Predictions for Saturday

Our computer projections model for this encounter expects a final result of Wild 6, Blue Jackets -2.

Moneyline Pick: Wild (-166)
Total Pick: Under 5.5 (computer predicts 4.0 goals on average)
Spread Pick: Wild (-1.5)

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Wild Splits and Trends

The Wild were 12-9-21 in overtime contests as part of a 45-30-7 overall record last season.
Minnesota was 16-6-6 (38 points) in its 28 games decided by one goal.
Looking at the 21 times last season the Wild finished a game with just one goal, they had a 3-16-2 record, picking up eight points.
Minnesota took seven points from the 13 games last season when it scored exactly two goals (2-8-3 record).
The Wild scored more than two goals in 49 games (42-3-4, 88 points).
In the 30 games when Minnesota scored a single power-play goal, it picked up 38 points by finishing 17-9-4.
In the 31 games last season when it outshot its opponent, Minnesota was 19-9-3 (41 points).
The Wild were outshot by their opponent in 54 games, going 26-22-6 to record 58 points.

Blue Jackets Splits and Trends

The Blue Jackets had a record of 40-33-9 last season and were 10-9-19 in overtime games.
Columbus picked up 22 points (7-7-8) in its 22 games decided by one goal.
Last season the Blue Jackets registered only one goal in seven games, and they picked up two points (0-5-2).
Columbus accumulated nine points (4-10-1) when scoring a pair of goals last season.
The Blue Jackets scored more than two goals in 51 games, earning 76 points from those contests.
Last season Columbus scored a lone power-play goal in 28 games, posting a record of 18-8-2.
When outshooting its opponent last season, Columbus was 18-12-4 (40 points).
The Blue Jackets were outshot by their opponents in 41 games last season, going 19-17-5 to register 43 points.

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Team Stats Comparison (2024-25)

Paul Allen