Minnesota Wild vs Calgary Flames Prediction & Picks - NHL

Prediction published on 12/4/25, 5:16 PM  by Taavi Pailk in NHL Picks

The Calgary Flames will hope to cool down a surging Minnesota Wild team on Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Wild lost just three games last month and started December strongly, beating the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 on the road on Tuesday. Jesper Wallstedt stopped 33 pucks to become the fourth rookie goaltender in NHL history with four shutouts over a six-game span.

This Wild team has been all about Kirill Kaprizov in recent seasons, but the goaltenders have come up big this term. Filip Gustavsson has also posted multiple shutdowns in 2025-26, giving the team six clean sheets through 27 games.

Minnesota's defense might get another easy night on Thursday, as the team will face the NHL's lowest-scoring team. The Flames have mustered just 2.29 goals per game. Their power play stands at 14.0 percent, and it's tough to see how things might improve up front, as the team doesn't have much offensive talent.

To beat the Wild, Calgary likely needs to get a big performance from its defense and goaltender. With Dustin Wolf struggling this season, Devin Cooley has recently taken over the crease. He has lost his last couple of starts but has done solid work overall. Cooley holds a 3-2-2 record and has allowed 2.17 goals with a .920 save percentage.