Two teams on opposite coasts that have gotten off to fabulous starts to the season will go head-to-head as the Dallas Stars take on the New Jersey Devils in the Garden State. Without further ado, let’s check out our NHL odds series where our Stars-Devils prediction and pick will be made.
Occupying the top spot within the Central Division out west, the Dallas Stars are on a mission to officially put the league on notice. Despite coming up on the short end of things in a loss to the Penguins 2-1 yesterday, Dallas will have to dig deep with no rest day to give the Devils all they can handle.
When it comes to New Jersey, very few predicted them to storm out of the gates like they have to start playing this year. In fact, the Devils have even been slightly more impressive than the Stars up to this point with their remarkable 21-5-2 record and 44 points overall. As it currently stands, New Jersey is six points ahead of Pittsburgh in the division. After a gut-punch overtime loss to the Rangers also coming on Monday, the Devils will be seeking revenge.
Here are the Stars-Devils NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Stars-Devils Odds
Dallas Stars: +1.5 (-188)
New Jersey Devils: -1.5 (+152)
Over: 6.5 (-106)
Under: 6.5 (-114)
Why The Stars Could Cover The Spread
Despite being losers in three of their previous five contests overall, Dallas has managed to do a splendid job in making sure their losing ways don’t get too out of hand. So far, the Stars have yet to embark on a lengthy losing streak that has been excessively costly. In their narrow loss to the Penguins, Dallas failed to take advantage of a game where the Stars were bested even after getting more shots on goal and winning the face-off advantage.
Alas, while these types of nights do happen at times, the Stars should still feel confident heading into this clash on the ice simply because of one man in particular. Introducing Jason Robertson, who is among the upper half of the league with his 42 points total. In fact, Robertson only trails Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in that department. Unfortunately, Dallas’ top skater saw his 18-game-point streak come to an end as he failed to even record a shot on goal in the contest. No question, it will be extremely vital for the Stars to establish some sort of rhythm to give the offense a chance to click.
On the other side of things, the Stars should also be in good hands when it comes to their goaltending situation. After raising eyebrows during the postseason last year, Jake Oettinger has put together a respectable campaign up to this point even when he has had to endure some growing pains. Clearly, Dallas may need to rely heavily on Oettinger against a stellar Devils offensive unit.
Why The Devils Could Cover The Spread
On the other side of things, New Jersey enters play in the midst of a two-game losing streak. Bafflingly, the Devils have not lost back-to-back games in over two months and are definitely in uncharted waters with how well they have played all season long.
While New Jersey will most likely want to nip this losing streak in the butt before it transforms itself into a glaring issue, the best route for the Devils to get back in the win column and even possibly secure a chance of covering the spread will fall on the shoulders of their defensive effort. Over the course of their last two losses, the Devils have surrendered a total of ten goals and have not looked like a group that has given up the third-fewest scores in all of hockey. Conversely, New Jersey is hoping that the lackluster play in their own zone and net is just a rough patch and that starting goalie Vitek Vanacek can continue to build off of his 9.12 save percentage through 19 starts overall.
Other than the fact that the Devils will need Vanacek to stand on his head, it’ll help if the Devils start off hot and finish strong. After blowing a pair of two-goal leads against the Rangers that ended up snapping New Jersey’s franchise-record 11-game road winning streak, keeping the pedal to the metal for all three periods should be the name of the game for Jersey.
Final Stars-Devils Prediction & Pick
Keep in mind, the Devils have not lost three straight all season long and are a solid 18-10 against the spread. Not to mention, but New Jersey will be at home where they have feasted on their opposition by using the fans’ energy to their advantage. At the end of the day, siding with the Devils is the wise pick here even with the spread at -1.5.
Final Stars-Devils Prediction & Pick: Devils -1.5 (+152)
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