Fact checked at 9:20 AM ET, Nov 14, 2026Odds as of 7:27 AM ET, Nov 14, 2026
Minnesota (14-3-4) visits Boston (13-5-1) at 7:00 PM ET at TD Garden, and goals should be hard to come by at both ends. The Wild allow 2.19 a game, fewest in the league. The Bruins allow 2.42, third-fewest. Minnesota has points in 10 straight games (8-0-2) and has won seven in a row on the road, most recently 5-2 in Toronto behind a Matt Boldy hat trick. Boston comes in off a 5-2 home loss to Montreal that ended its seven-game home win streak, and Jeremy Swayman got pulled after Montreal's fourth goal.
Minnesota is a small favorite, and the total is 6. Our case is that Minnesota controls this one, wins it by two or more, and Quinn Hughes sets up at least one of the goals. Jesper Wallstedt (13-2-3, .925 save percentage) and Swayman are the projected starters, not confirmed ones. Joel Eriksson Ek, Minnesota's top-line center, left the last game with an upper-body injury and is day to day. Coach John Hynes said, "I don't have an update of anything serious, so I think we'll see how it goes." Defenseman Brock Faber could make his season debut, though Hynes called it a possibility with no guarantee. Boston forward James Hagens is on injured reserve.
Wild vs. Bruins Predictions
Pick #1Quinn Hughes Over 0.5 Assists−180
Hughes has an assist in 18 of Minnesota's 21 games. He plays about 28 minutes a night and is projected on both power-play units, so not much Minnesota offense happens without the puck going through him. The record holds over a longer stretch too: after the trade to Minnesota last season he had an assist in 31 of 47 games.
At -180 you're paying for a 64.3% chance, and his assists track Minnesota's scoring closely enough that we'll pay it. The Wild have scored three or more 15 times, and Hughes had an assist in 14 of those games. On nights they managed only two, he still had one in four of five. In the first meeting, a 4-1 Minnesota win, he had a goal and an assist.
Boston gives him extra chances. The Bruins average 13.9 penalty minutes a game, second-most in the league, and Minnesota's power play converts 27.4%, sixth. Every power play is more time with the puck on Hughes's stick.
What beats this is a goaltending duel. Boston allows the third-fewest goals in the league, and Hughes went without an assist in a 2-1 win over Columbus and a 2-1 loss in Calgary. If Eriksson Ek can't play, the top power-play unit loses its center.
Pick #2Minnesota -1.5+201
Minnesota doesn't win many close ones. Eleven of its 14 wins came by two goals or more, and eight of its 14 road games ended in a win by that margin. Six of the seven wins in the road streak were by at least two, the exception being a 2-1 overtime win in Montreal. The +201 price breaks even at 33.2%, and Minnesota has won by two or more in 11 of 21 games.
When Boston loses, it tends to lose big. Four of its five regulation losses were by three goals: 4-1 in Minnesota, 4-1 at home to Ottawa, 4-1 in St. Louis and 5-2 at home to Montreal in the last game. The Bruins scored once in three of those. With a defense allowing 2.19 a game, Minnesota doesn't need a big offensive night to win by two, and it averages 3.33 goals.
Still, this asks Minnesota to be ahead by two at the end against a team that's 8-2-0 at home. Three of Minnesota's wins were by one goal, and four of its losses came after regulation. Wallstedt has started the last two games, and the case is weaker if Calvin Pickard starts. Eriksson Ek centers the top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Boldy, so his status matters here too.
21+ (18+ where permitted). Odds subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
