In their first head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues take the ice at the Enterprise Center. This Central Division matchup gets started at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 8 and it’s being televised live on Fox Sports Southwest.
Dallas Stars at St. Louis Blues Odds
St. Louis (-115) is being chosen as the favorite over Dallas (-105), and oddsmakers have put the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals (-125 money on the over, +105 on the under).
Dallas is 22-21 straight up (SU) and has lost 0.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 43 regular season contests, 23 of its games have gone under the total, while 15 have gone over and just five have pushed. As the road team this season, the Stars are 8-14 SU.
Dallas has converted on 21.6 percent of its power play chances this year, a mark that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked 10th overall, and it has successfully killed off 82.6 percent of its penalties.
Dallas, as a collective unit, has been sent to the penalty box 3.8 times per game this season, 3.8 per game over its last five total, and 3.8 per game over its last five on the road. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 8.5 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Averaging 27.3 saves per game with a .921 save percentage, Ben Bishop (14-13-2) has been the primary option in goal for Dallas this season. If Dallas decides to rest him, however, they might turn to Anton Khudobin (9-10-2 record, .924 save percentage, 2.52 goals against average).
Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov will both be relied on to facilitate things for the visiting Stars. Seguin has 39 points on 15 goals and 24 assists, and has recorded multiple points 10 times. Radulov has 14 goals and 23 assists to his name (and has registered a point in 21 games).
On the other side of the rink, St. Louis is 17-23 straight up (SU) and has lost 8.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. 19 of its games have gone over the total, while 18 have gone under and just two have pushed. This year, the team is 10-14 SU as the home team.
St. Louis has converted on 19.5 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 17th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.9 percent of all opponent power plays.
St. Louis skaters have been sent to the penalty box 4.0 times per game this season, and 3.4 per game over their last five outings. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 8.6 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jake Allen has stopped 24.2 shots per game as the top option in goal for St. Louis. Allen has 14 wins, 19 losses, and four overtime losses to his credit and has recorded a poor .898 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average this year.
The Blue Notes will be led on offense by Ryan O’Reilly (16 goals, 24 assists).
Dallas Stars at St. Louis Blues Free Picks
Free NHL Tip: SU Winner – Blues, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- For both of these teams, the game went over the total in three of their past five matchups.
- Dallas has managed 29.6 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while St. Louis is averaging 35.2 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- The Blues are 8-12 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 9-13 in games where they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total.
- St. Louis is ranked 14th in the league this season with 8.1 takeaways per game. That figure’s trended higher, as it has averaged 8.8 takeaways over its last 10 games and 9.6 takeaways over its last five.
- Dallas is ranked 24th in the NHL this season with 6.7 takeaways per game. That figure has trended lower recently, however, as it’s forced 4.8 takeaways over its last 10 games and 3.4 takeaways over its last five.
- Dallas may hold the upper hand if this one comes down to the wire. The team’s 10-8 in games decided by one goal, while St. Louis is only 4-11 in such games.
