Who is favoured, Montréal Canadiens or Minnesota Wild?

Minnesota Wild, at 53.8% in PuckCast's preseason forecast. That is a rating-based forecast; the full model read, with goalies, rest and form, publishes within seven days of puck drop.

What is a preseason forecast?

A win probability from each team's regressed preseason rating and home ice, the same ratings behind the 2026-27 projected standings. Those ratings are calibrated at the season level, for standings and playoff odds; this single-game percentage is a plain rating formula and has not been graded on its own yet. It is deliberately unsure about any single game, and the confidence grade says how far it leans.

When does the real prediction publish?

Inside the seven-day window before the game. The model re-scores it on every refresh until puck drop, with the confirmed starting goalies, and this page shows that read instead of the forecast.

Montréal Canadiens at Minnesota Wild, Sat, Dec 19: prediction and odds forecast

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2026-27 forecast · Sat, Dec 19, 7:00 PM ET

Montréal CanadiensMTL

102 proj. pts · 61.2% playoffs

Samuel Montembeault · 0.872 SV%

Cvs7:00 PM ET

Minnesota WildMIN

A preseason forecast from each team's regressed rating and home ice, the ratings behind the projected standings. The full model read, with the starting goalies, rest and form, publishes within seven days of the game and replaces this page’s numbers. How the model works

The read

Preseason ratings · last season’s record

MIN controlled play at 5v5 last season, 51.2% of the expected goals to 50.0%; MIN's power play ran at 24.3% against a MTL kill at 77.5%.

In goal, neither team has named a starter. Last season Filip Gustavsson (MIN) saved -9.1 goals above expected to Samuel Montembeault's -23.9, on save percentages of 0.904 and 0.872.

None of that is the model read. This is a rating-and-home-ice forecast; the full prediction — confirmed goalies, rest and form, priced against the market — publishes inside the seven days before puck drop and replaces these numbers. Minnesota Wild over Montréal Canadiens is where it starts, not where it ends.

In goal

goalie board

No starter is named this far out. These are each side’s projected starters on the current roster, with last season’s numbers.

MTL

Samuel Montembeault

SV%: 0.872
GSAx: -23.9
GAA: 3.43
Record: 10-8-4

25 games, 2025-26

MIN

Filip Gustavsson

SV%: 0.904
GSAx: -9.1
GAA: 2.69
Record: 28-15-6

50 games, 2025-26

MTL	Metric	MIN
50.0%	xGF% (5v5)	51.2%
48.3%	Shot share	49.5%
3.4	Goals for / game	3.3
3.0	Goals against / game	3.0
23.5%	Power play	24.3%
77.5%	Penalty kill	76.9%
51.4%	Faceoffs	47.0%

Who drives it

2026-27 projected points

Montréal Canadiens

Player	Pos	G	A	Pts
Nick Suzuki	C	29	60	90
Lane Hutson	D	11	67	77
Cole Caufield	R	41	35	76
Juraj Slafkovský	L	24	38	62

Minnesota Wild

Player	Pos	G	A	Pts
Matt Boldy	L	35	45	80

Date	Game	Pick	Score	Result
2026-02-02	MTL @ MIN	MIN	MTL 3–4 MIN	Correct
2026-01-20	MIN @ MTL	MTL	MIN 3–4 MTL	Correct

Team	Proj. points	Playoff odds
Montréal Canadiens	102	61.2%
Minnesota Wild	101	65.5%

Every pick is free. The Edge is the rest.

The read

In goal

Last season, side by side

Who drives it

Schedule around it

Last season, head to head

Season outlook