Two teams on winning streaks, the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets collide at Bell MTS Place for a Central Division showdown. This one gets underway at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 2 and it’s being televised live on Fox Sports Southwest.
Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets Odds
Dallas (+100) is currently the underdog to Winnipeg (-120) and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals (-125 for the over, +105 for the under).
Dallas is 7-5 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 0.5 units this season. Through 12 regular season contests, six of its games have gone over the total, while another six have gone under and none have pushed. This 2017-18 Stars team is 3-4 SU on the road.
Dallas has impressively scored on 30.8 percent of its power play chances thus far. That’s a good improvement from last season, when it was ranked 19th in the NHL by scoring on 17.9 percent of its extra-man chances. Its penalty kill has also gotten stronger since last year, as the team has gone from successfully defending 73.9 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 30th overall last year) to 90.5 percent this year.
Dallas, as a collective unit, has been penalized 4.1 times per game this season, a number that is pretty close to the 3.8 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 9.9 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s had to kill penalties for 9.4 minutes per matchup this year.
Boasting a .920 save percentage and 26.3 saves per game, Ben Bishop (6-4) has been the best option in goal for Dallas this year. If Dallas chooses to rest him, however, they may roll with Kari Lehtonen (1-3), who has a .896 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average this year.
Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin will both look to continue their strong seasons for the visiting Stars. Benn (14 points) is up to seven goals and seven assists, and has recorded multiple points four times. Seguin has seven goals and five assists to his name (and has registered at least one point in eight games).
Over on the other bench, Winnipeg is 6-5 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 1.3 units this season. Seven of its contests have gone over the total, while four have gone under and none have pushed. So far this year, the team is 3-2 SU at home.
Winnipeg has converted on just 13.5 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that places it in the bottom 10 overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 16th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.5 percent of all penalties.
Winnipeg players have been penalized 4.3 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 4.3, the fifth-highest mark in the league. After serving an average of 10.2 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s had to kill penalties for 9.3 minutes per outing this year.
Connor Hellebuyck has stopped 27.6 shots per game as the top option in goal for Winnipeg. Hellebuyck has six wins, two losses, and one overtime loss to his name and has recorded a solid 1.91 goals against average and a .940 save percentage this season.
Mark Scheifele (four goals, eight assists) and Blake Wheeler (four goals, eight assists) will lead the offensive attack for the Jets.
Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Stars, O/U – Over
Betting Trends:
- The under has hit in three of Winnipeg’s last five games.
- The Jets are 3-3 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Stars are 4-2 SU when they spend more time in the box than their opponent.
