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Posted at 1:10 PM EST 

OT included. The Wild open at home after playing three road games to start the year and frankly, there is nothing to get excited about with this group. Minnesota ranks 24th in offensive zone time. They come into this home opener at 1-1-1 but they deserve to be 0-3. Minnesota’s only win was a 5-4 OT victory in Carolina in which they scored a goal to tie it with a tenth of a second left in a game they were outshot in 42-27. They lost to Detroit 4-2 and when they beat Chicago on Thursday, they were not the better team in that game either. Every team in the NHL has star power or a couple of young phenoms but the Wild have none. Their first line center is Eric Staal.  A lot of Minnesota's core players are in their 30s and a decline has already started for most. This is an overrated and beatable team that is high on our fade radar.

Columbus played last night at home against the Rangers and dominated the early part of the first period and the third period en route to a 3-1 victory. The Jackets will play the tail-end of back-to-backs here but that’s not a factor this early in the year. What we know for sure is that the Jackets are young, they’re quick and they’re balanced. They also have outstanding goaltending no matter what goaltender they use. Last night it was Sergei Bobrovsky and tonight it’ll likely be Joonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo would be a #1 on at last 70% of the teams in this league because he’s that good. The Jackets rank top-10 in several possession metrics and they’re playing with the same intensity as they did last year when they were killing it. Jackets plus a price here is true value and we’re all over it. 

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