In most cases, the team facing elimination is under the most pressure in a Game 6.
But on Thursday night, it’s the Minnesota Wild that will be wearing some serious baggage.
The Wild have not won a playoff series since 2015, and have only won four since the team joined the NHL for the 2000-01 season, with two of those victories coming in the same season, 2002-03, meaning Minnesota fans have only seen their team on the right side of the handshake line twice since George W. Bush’s first term.
That’s a lot of weight to be lifted.
The Wild are -125 favorites to get the job done Thursday evening against the Stas.
Stars vs. Wild Game 6 odds, prediction
If Dallas is going to claw back into this series and go on a run this postseason, it will need contributions from down the lineup.
Only five players on the Stars have scored a goal through the first five games, and Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston have accounted for eight of Dallas’ 13 tallies in this series.
Robertson and Johnston are also two of just five Stars with at least 10 shots on goal in the best-of-seven series, along with Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley.
That cohort has accounted for 56 percent of Dallas’ 163 total shots on target through five games.
While the Wild’s depth scoring has provided a difference in a razor-tight series, the real story here is that the Stars just can’t finish at 5-on-5.
Dallas has generated 10.3 expected goals at 5-on-5 through the first five games of this best-of-seven, but they only have three goals to show for it.
Betting on the NHL?
Minnesota has scored 11 on 9.2 expected.
Jesper Wallstedt has been superb in goal for the Wild, and could very well roll that form into Game 6, but it’s hard to imagine that Dallas will continue to be this wasteful in front of goal for much longer.
The Play: Stars moneyline (+105, bet365)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
