Dallas Stars vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds
The Montreal Canadiens will try to rebound from their worst beating of the season when they play host to the Dallas Stars on Thursday night in NHL betting action at Bell Centre.
The Canadiens are coming off a lopsided 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night, which marks their third defeat in four games and ending a torrid 9-3-0 start to the season.
The Stars arrive in Montreal riding a three-game win streak, capped by Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime win in Ottawa that leaves trailing the league-leading Colorado Avalanche by just four points.
The Canadiens have emerged as narrow -120 favourites on the Thursday NHL odds. The Stars trail as a +100 bet and the total is listed at 6.0.
Stars vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
The clubs split a pair of games last season, with the road team earning the win in each. However, the Stars have largely dominated the Habs in recent years, claiming victory in seven of 10 meetings overall and have also claimed two in each of their past six visits to Montreal, capped by a 2-1 win on January 11.
However, recent clashes between these clubs have been hard fought, with three of their past four getting settled by a single goal. Low scoring has also been commonplace, with these teams combining to score an average of just four total goals in last season’s three matchups, sparking a 3-0 run for the UNDER in totals betting.
Hard-fought contests are nothing new for the Stars, who have seen 10 of their past 11 games get settled by a single goal, and with five of those outings going beyond 60 minutes, Dallas has picked up at least a point in all but one of those games.
After getting the bounces during a 9-3-0 start that included five wins in overtime, luck has run out on the Habs, who have surrendered four goals per game while losing three of four including two defeats in OT or a shootout.
For the first time since the first week of the season, Montreal has seen two straight games get settled by multi-goal margins, ending a run of 11 games that featured 10 one-goal decisions.
Dallas Stars
The Stars have emerged as comeback kids during their current 4-1-0 run, with three of their victories over that stretch coming after spotting opponents early leads. Dallas has been particularly prone to slow starts on the road, where they have failed to score in the first period in their past six but have still managed to compile a solid 5-1-2 away record.
Jason Robertson has overcome a slow October during the club’s current surge. Robertson potted a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s win over the Senators and has been involved in four of the team’s five goals over the past two games. Mikko Rantanen contributed a goal and a helper in Ottawa, bringing his November totals to five goals and 11 points including five points in three road dates.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens failed to recover after surrendering three goals in just over four minutes early in the second period of Tuesday’s loss to the Kings, mustering just 13 total shots over the final two periods. That marks a big step back for a Montreal attack that scored 4.29 goals per game over their previous seven outings.
Josh Anderson potted the lone marker for the Canadiens, his second of the season and his second point in three games. But the big guns fell silent, with the trio of Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, and Juraj Slafkovsky combining to record just three total shots on net. Slafkovsky’s goal-scoring drought n ow sits at four games, while Demidov and Caufield have each failed to find the mark in three of the past four games.
