Two teams branded as sleepers, the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars, will face off in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2015-16. That was also the last time the Minnesota Wild advanced to the second round, and it’s been a few years since the Dallas Stars had success in the playoffs. To get a sense of each team's strengths and weaknesses, let's take a closer look at their respective statistics and compare them head-to-head.
Here's a tale of the tape for the upcoming series:
Dallas and Minnesota are both strong defensive teams ranking among the top-10 teams in categories like goals against, expected goals against, and penalty killing. The Stars are the better offensive team, though, and that’s why they will win this series more often than the Wild. DraftKings Sportsbook currently has the Stars listed as a -140 series favorite. The Wild are priced at +120.