The Dallas Stars will be looking to keep it rolling on Friday night when they play host to the Nashville Predators at American Airlines Center. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8 PM EST. Dallas just ended a three-game losing skid at home on Wednesday with a dominant 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild, their second straight win over their Central Division foes. As for Nashville, they lost the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 5-3 on Tuesday but come into this one well-rested. This is already the third meeting of the campaign between these teams, with each one grabbing a victory apiece thus far. Continue reading below for the Predators vs Stars picks.
Before diving into the NHL picks, check out our top hockey betting sites and the Vegas odds for the NHL in the 2023-24 season.
The Stars, who are just above the Preds in the Central Division, sit at -180 odds to take this one. Nashville comes back at +160. The total in goals is set at 6.5, with the over being hit in their last matchup.
The Predators are having a respectable campaign and remain in the playoff mix as the new year rolls on. Nashville is fourth in the Central with a 22-18-1 record but there is a eight-point gap between them and the Dallas Stars. While the Preds are rather pedestrian on both sides of the ice, they do manage to win games. Nashvill is 17th in goals scored with 3.1 per contest and 18th in goals allowed with 3.1.
The main man offensively for this group is Filip Forsberg, who is having a phenomenal season. He’s scored 21 goals and tallied 24 assists for a total of 45 points to lead the way. Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Jose, and Gustav Nyquist have also surpassed the 30-point mark. The production tails off a bit after that, but these four are definitely very capable of producing on a nightly basis.
The Preds are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and were handed a disappointing loss by a poor Ducks group earlier in the week. It was an uphill battle from the very start, going down 3-0 in the first period. By the end of the second it was 4-0 and although Nashville got three back in the third, Anaheim also added another. The usual suspects didn’t do much offensively for the Predators while their blue line was very vulnerable. Nashville is only 1-5 in their previous six meetings with Dallas, which doesn’t exactly bode well for what could happen on Friday. However, they’re 5-1 in the last six road contests.
Dallas wasn’t far off making the Stanley Cup last season and although there’s a lot of competition in the West, they definitely have the ability to make another run in 2023-24. The Stars are third in the division with an impressive 24-11-5 record and only trail the first-place Winnipeg Jets by five points. As previously mentioned, Dallas is riding a two-game winning streak and offense is undoubtedly the name of the game for Peter DeBoer’s team.
The Stars are second in goals with 3.68 and that’s on just 30.4 shots per night, which ranks 17th in the league. The balance up and down the roster is truly fantastic, too. Jason Robertson’s 41 points are a team-best, while Matt Duchene, Roope Hintz, Joe Pavelski, Mason Marchment, and Tyler Seguin are all over 30 points apiece. Everywhere you look, there is a player who can put the puck in the back of the net or set a goal up. That’s what makes the Stars so dangerous.
We saw their brilliance on full display on Wednesday, putting seven past the Wild. For example, Hintz, Pavelski, Seguin, and Robertson all scored in this one. When that happens, it’s hard to imagine Dallas ever losing. The Stars took a 3-0 lead into the third period before breaking things wide open with four goals in the final frame. Defenceman Nils Lundkvist finished with two points (goal and assist) while nearly every player finished with a plus rating. It was a very good performance for Dallas to build off of.
The Stars’ sheer dominance of Nashville is enough for me to ride them in this one. Take the Dallas moneyline. They will extend the unbeaten run in this divisional affair.
See below the top Las Vegas betting sites where you can wager online and choose the best one for you. Most of them also offer amazing casinos, like the BetOnline Casino. Check them out!
