A couple of teams that split their head-to-head series one win each a year ago, the Dallas Stars and the Carolina Hurricanes meet at PNC Arena. The opening face-off is at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 16, and fans at home will be able to witness this East-West matchup live on Fox Sports Southwest.
Dallas Stars at Carolina Hurricanes Odds
Carolina (-150) is favored over Dallas (+130) and the Over/Under (O/U) is placed at 6 goals. The line for betting the total stands at -110 for the over and -110 on the under.
Losing 9.2 units for moneyline gamblers, the Hurricanes are 30-28 straight up (SU) overall in the 2018-19 season. That early-season winning percentage is a welcome improvement over the 36-46 record from the 2017-18 season campaign. Out of the team’s 58 regular season matches, 33 of them have gone under the total, while 23 have gone over and just one has pushed. Thus far, the team is 15-13 SU at home.
Carolina’s converted on just 16.7 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s ranked 24th overall in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is rated 15th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.7 percent of all penalties.
As a collective unit, Carolina has been whistled for penalties 3.6 times per game overall this season, 3.6 per game over its past five games total, and 3.8 per game over its last five at home. The team has had to stave off opposition power plays for just 7.1 minutes per game over its last 10 outings, in total.
Averaging 23.6 saves per game with a .897 save percentage, Petr Mrazek (12-15-3) has been the top option in goal for the Hurricanes this year. If they choose to give him the night off, however, the team could turn to Curtis McElhinney (15-7-7 record, .920 save percentage, 2.36 goals against average).
The Canes will continue to lean on the leadership out of Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. Aho (66 points) is up to 24 goals and 42 assists and has recorded two or more points on 16 separate occasions this year. Teravainen has 17 goals and 35 assists to his name and has recorded at least one point in 30 contests.
On the other bench, Dallas is 29-28 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.9 units for bettors taking the moneyline thus far. A total of 34 of its games have gone under the total, while 16 have gone over and just seven have pushed. Dallas’ 11-18 SU as a road team this season.
Dallas has converted on 20.3 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked sixth overall and it’s successfully killed off 82.7 percent of all opponent power plays.
Dallas’ skaters have been penalized 3.7 times per game in total this season, 4.2 per game over their past five contests total, and 4.0 per game over their last five games as the visiting team. The team has had to kill penalties 8.6 minutes per game over their last five road outings.
Ben Bishop (27.1 saves per game) has been the primary option in goal for Dallas. Bishop owns a 19-15-2 record, and has registered a .924 save percentage and 2.30 goals against average this year.
Tyler Seguin (24 goals, 30 assists) will pace the attack for the visiting Stars.
Dallas Stars at Carolina Hurricanes Free Picks
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Hurricanes, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
- The under has hit in four of Carolina’s last five games.
- Dallas has managed 28.2 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Carolina is averaging 32.8 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- The Stars are 13-14 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Hurricanes are 13-9 SU when they serve more minutes than their opponent.
- One of the top teams at creating pressure on opposing puckhandlers, Carolina is ranked 1st overall this season with 10.6 takeaways per game. That figure has trended lower recently, however, as the team has created 8.2 takeaways over its last 10 games and 9.2 takeaways over its last five.
- Dallas skaters have averaged 4.6 takeaways per game over its last five road games, a drop-off from its season average of 6.6 takeaways per game (ranked 24th overall).
