Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins: Game preview, predictions, and odds | October 29, 2024

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins will face off in a cross-conference game that will see both teams trying to return to the win column. After signing Sidney Crosby to an extension this summer, the Penguins entered this season with high expectations, hoping to keep their postseason window open.

The Penguins are on a five-game skid, sitting in second-to-last place in the Metropolitan Division, ahead of just the Philadelphia Flyers.

Meanwhile, after missing the playoffs for just the second time in the last 12 years, the Wild are eager to turn things around and make a postseason push. The Wild (5-1-2) are sitting in third place in the Central Division. Their four-game win streak was snapped by the Flyers on Saturday.

Tuesday's clash against the Penguins will mark the last game of the Wild's road trip before they return home for a meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday.

Both teams are dealing with several injuries. The Wild have Troy Grosenick and Graeme Clarke on injured reserve, while Ryan Hartman is listed as out with an upper-body injury. In addition, Jared Spurgeon is listed as day-to-day ahead of his impending return.

On the other hand, the Penguins have centers Blake Lizotte and Vasily Ponomarev both on the injured reserve list, while winger Bryan Rust is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins prediction

The Minnesota Wild have looked great through the early stretch of this season, and although they've been on the road since Oct. 13, the team has shown that they have what it takes to compete with some of the best teams in the league, as seen in their 5-1 win over the Panthers last week.

Given that and the struggles of the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, which has seen them post a 3-6-1 record, the Wild is expected to get the job done on the road.

Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins odds

Heading into Tuesday night's game, the Wild are slight favorites on most major US sportsbooks. On FanDuel for example, the team has -120 odds to win, while the Penguins have +100 odds.

The odds are even closer on DraftKings, where the Wild have -118 odds to win and the Penguins have -102 odds to win. To simplify these odds using the FanDuel numbers as an example, a $120 bet on Minnesota as favorites would win $100, whereas a $100 bet on Pittsburgh as the underdogs would win $100.