Wild vs Sharks: New Year's Eve West Coast Showdown

Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild roll into San Jose on a two-game road win streak and three victories in their last five, while the Sharks have also strung together back-to-back wins after dropping three straight, so both sides enter this one trending upward. With Minnesota missing only depth defender Daemon Hunt, compared to a Sharks lineup still without key youngsters Will Smith and Michael Misa plus forwards Adam Gaudette and banged-up defensemen Timothy Liljegren and Shakir Mukhamadullin, the Wild clearly have the cleaner roster and sturdier blue line in front of a Gustavsson/Wallstedt tandem that has outperformed San Jose’s goaltending so far. Macklin Celebrini has been a genuine Wild-killer already, posting a hat trick against them last season and a 6-5 overtime winner in St. Paul back in October, but Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek have consistently generated offense versus San Jose’s defense and now face a Sharks team allowing 3.46 goals per game with one of the weaker shot-suppression profiles in the conference. San Jose may be up 2-0 in the season series and riding Celebrini’s eight-game point streak, yet Minnesota’s superior five-on-five metrics, special-teams edge and more reliable defensive structure have them sitting third in the Central with 54 points and firmly in the playoff chase, whereas the Sharks are scrapping around the wild-card bubble in the Pacific. Laying -178 on a road favorite is never cheap, but given the injury imbalance, defensive gap and Minnesota’s current road form, I project the Wild to win this matchup often enough to justify backing Minnesota Wild -178 on the moneyline, grading it a B+ play for both likelihood and moderate but not elite value. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 31/12/2025 09:27([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nhl/game/_/gameId/401802976/wild-sharks))

After consecutive high-scoring wins for both teams – Minnesota coming off 5-2 and 4-3 OT victories, San Jose off 6-3 and 5-4 road wins – the total of 6.5 looks aggressive but attainable in this spot. The Wild are averaging 3.08 goals for and 2.58 against, while the Sharks sit at 3.05 for and 3.46 against; that blend of top-tier Minnesota defending with leaky San Jose coverage creates a profile where a strong Wild offense can drive scoring while the Sharks’ improved attack still finds ways to answer, especially at home. The injuries actually tilt toward offense, with the Sharks missing two-way centers Will Smith and Michael Misa plus winger Adam Gaudette and multiple defensemen, thinning their ability to protect leads or lock down in their own zone, and Minnesota’s only significant absence coming on the back end. Key matchup pieces have already shown what this series can do to a scoreboard: Celebrini has piled up big nights versus the Wild, including that 6-5 OT win, while Boldy and Kaprizov have combined for heavy production in the head-to-head meetings and drive a Wild power play humming above 22 percent against a middling penalty kill on both sides. With Minnesota pushing to solidify its top-three Central position and San Jose clawing for Pacific and wild-card relevance, the game script leans more toward trading chances than sitting on a lead, so I lean to Over 6.5 at -105, but with respect for Gustavsson/Wallstedt’s ability to steal lower-scoring outcomes I’ll grade this total as a B- rather than something stronger. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 31/12/2025 09:27([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nhl/game/_/gameId/401802976/wild-sharks))

With both teams riding two-game win streaks but the Sharks already up 2-0 in the season series and having taken that wild 6-5 overtime decision in St. Paul, this matchup has repeatedly shown a tendency to stay competitive even when the Wild control larger stretches of play. San Jose’s injury list is longer – missing Will Smith, Michael Misa, Adam Gaudette and key defenseman Timothy Liljegren while monitoring Shakir Mukhamadullin – yet Macklin Celebrini’s extended scoring tear, supported by William Eklund and Igor Chernyshov, has kept them in games and helped fuel recent one-goal victories like the 5-4 win in Anaheim, as Yaroslav Askarov routinely faces high shot volumes and still gives them a chance late. Minnesota’s underlying edge in goals against, shot share and special teams makes them the rightful favorite and a strong playoff-positioned club in third place in the Central, but their last five include two overtime decisions and they’ve already seen San Jose repeatedly turn narrow possession deficits into tight finishes. Given that context – a Sharks side that has matched up well against the Wild so far, a home record north of .500, and star power capable of answering Minnesota rushes – I’m more comfortable grabbing San Jose Sharks +1.5 at -170 on the puckline than laying the -1.5 with the road favorite, with the heavy juice offset by a high probability that this ends as either a Sharks upset or another one-goal Minnesota win; I’ll grade this puckline position as a solid B. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 31/12/2025 09:27([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nhl/game/_/gameId/401802976/wild-sharks))