Back Stars To Beat Lightning Again

Stars vs. Lightning, 7:00 ET

A long weekend of important football games tore me away from betting on the NHL for a little while, but now that we've reached Monday night and there is only one game for the NFL, we are going to head back to the ice and see if we can capture a victory. Tonight, I've got my eyes set on a game between the Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Stars produced a very strong campaign last year, but fell short in the playoffs as they were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Las Vegas Golden Knights. This year, they've burst out of the gate kicking butt and taking names. They've got a 14-5-3 record for the season and have been extremely impressive on the road with an 8-1-2 record. Neither team is coming into this game with great form but the Stars are slightly better having dropped three of their past five games. Tonight, I'm expecting them to put Jake Oettinger in the net once again. He was in there Saturday and stopped 32 of 33 shots. He's been outstanding for the Stars all season with a 10-4-2 record and a top-10 ranking in most significant goalkeeping stats. The season is still on the early side of the schedule, but he has faced three teams twice this season and his record is 3-3 in those games. He faced a few more shots than usual in the first game against Tampa, but it wasn't far off from what they normally get. I don't think he is going to be quite as sharp in this one.

TAMPA, FL - APRIL 29: Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period in Game Six of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on April 29, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Lightning aren't playing good hockey right now as they have lost four consecutive games. Over that stretch of four games, they have a total of five goals. There last win saw them net eight goals alone so it has been inconsistent to say the least. On the season, they aren't really playing terribly - they are average with a 10-10-5 record, but have defended the home ice well with a 6-3-3 record for the year. As you'd expect, it is Nikita Kucherov leading the way with an eye-popping 40 points already in the 25 games. He currently leads the NHL and has a decent four-point lead there. He did have six shots in the game against Dallas but only grabbed one point via an assist. Andrei Vasilevskiy is going to guard the net tonight for the Lightning. I'm a little surprised by that move considering he allowed six goals to them in the start on Saturday, but maybe the team wants him to bounce back or feels he will perform better at home. I'm not quite sure what would give them that thought as he has allowed about 15% of shots to find the back of the net this season.

In baseball teams play each other back-to-back days, in basketball, we've seen more scheduling situations where teams play each other twice in the span of three days and never again. It doesn't seem to be as common in hockey, but these two square off after meeting just two days ago. The Stars were the dominant force in that game as they poured it on with an 8-1 victory over Tampa. I think the Stars are the better team, and certainly playing better right now, so I'll take them as a short road favorite tonight.

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