The American Airlines Center will be hosting a Western Conference matchup as the Dallas Stars square off against the visiting Edmonton Oilers. It’s the third and last time that the two clubs will go at it in the regular season. The opening face-off takes place at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 6, and you’ll be able to witness the game live on Fox Sports Southwest.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Dallas Stars Odds
The Stars are 23-19 straight up (SU) and have lost 0.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. That early-season winning percentage is a surprising improvement over the 34-48 record from the 2016-17 season campaign. Through 42 regular season contests, 24 of the teams games have gone over the total, while 17 have gone under and just one has pushed. This season, the team is 15-6 SU at home.
Dallas has converted on 20.5 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 19th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.0 percent of all penalties.
Dallas, as a collective unit, has been penalized 4.3 times per game overall this season, and 3.6 per game over its past five games. The team has had to kill penalties for 9.6 minutes per contest over its last five home games.
With a .915 save percentage and 26.2 saves per game, Ben Bishop (18-15-2) has been the best option in goal for the Stars this season. If they, however, choose to give him a rest, the team may go with Kari Lehtonen (6-7-7 record, .907 save percentage, 2.59 goals against average).
The Stars will continue to look for offensive production from Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Benn (38 points) has tallied 16 goals and 22 assists and has recorded multiple points nine times this year. Seguin has 20 goals and 17 assists to his name and has recorded at least one point in 26 contests.
On the other side of the rink, Edmonton is 18-23 straight up (SU) and has lost 10.8 units for moneyline bettors thus far. A total of 21 of its games have gone under the total, while 19 have gone over and just one has pushed. As the visiting team, Edmonton is 9-10 SU so far.
Edmonton has converted on just 15.8 percent of its power play chances this year, a mark that’s ranked 24th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 32nd overall and it’s successfully defended 70.5 percent of all opponent power plays.
Edmonton’s skaters have been called for penalties 3.9 times per game in total this season, and 3.0 per game over their past ten outings. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 7.3 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Cam Talbot (27.1 saves per game) has been the main choice in the net for Edmonton. Talbot owns a 15-16-2 record, while registering a .905 save percentage and 3.00 goals against average this year.
For the visiting Oilers, the offense will be coordinated by Connor McDavid, who’s got 32 assists and 14 goals this year.
Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Stars, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- Extra-man opportunities could be key in this one. The Oilers are 9-4 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 12-14 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Stars are 11-6 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 14-8 when total penalty minutes are in the single digits.
- Edmonton is 1-1 in games decided by a shootout this season while Dallas is 3-1 in shootouts.
- Dallas is ranked 24th with 6.3 takeaways per game. That figure has trended lower recently, however, as it has created 4.6 takeaways over its last 10 games and 5.0 takeaways over its last five.
- Edmonton is ranked ninth in the league this season with 8.2 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down lately, however, as it’s forced 7.6 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.0 takeaways over its last five.
