The NHL Winter Classic is back in 2022 with the Minnesota Wild (19-9-2) and St. Louis Blues (18-9-5) clashing at Target Field in Minneapolis.
Bookmaker BetOnline has the hosts as favorites for the matchup offering odds at -127 for a Wild win while St. Louis can be backed with odds at +115. A high-scoring affair is expected with the odds for over 5.5 goals at -125. The under is available with the odds at +113.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: December 31st, 1:30 P.M. (EST)
The Wild will play in their first Winter Classic while St. Louis is featured for the second time in this special matchup. They beat Chicago 4-1 in front of 46,556 fans at Busch Stadium in 2017.
Counting all outdoor games, Minnesota previously played in 2016 when Chicago came to visit for a Stadium Series game and trashed the hosts 6-1.
This will be a completely different kind of home game for the Wild, but it’s worth noting that Dean Evason’s team boasts a very strong 10-2-1 record in front of their fans this season.
The Wild have been among the league’s best offensive teams this season with a 3.63 goals-for average and it’s made them very fun watch. Last year’s rookie of the year Kirill Kaprizov has particularly caught the eye with some amazing plays.
The Russian winger already has two four-point games to his name this season and sits among the league’s best scorers with 36 points in 30 games.
The Blues have a lot of attacking talent as well. They have battled injuries all season but are now close to full strength at the turn of the year. Brayden Schenn was the only key guy to miss Wednesday’s 4-2 win over Edmonton, but there’s a chance that he returns from an upper-body injury on Saturday.
With everybody healthy, the Blues top nine looks like the strongest in the league and it’s going to be very hard to keep them in check.
Vladimir Tarasenko is the only forward who hasn’t missed any game time this season. Taking into consideration all of their injuries, St. Louis has been very prolific getting 3.38 goals per game. They are also among the best defensive sides in the league with a 2.66 goals-against average so the team is a little more well-rounded compared to their Winter Classic opponent.
