The Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars clash at the American Airlines Center in a divisional showdown. Fox Sports Southwest will air the game, and the opening face-off is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 5.
Nashville Predators at Dallas Stars Odds
Nashville is 17-10 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 5.0 units this year. Through 27 regular season contests, 13 of its games have gone over the total, while another 13 have gone under and none have pushed. The Preds are 6-7 SU on the road in 2017-18.
Nashville has converted on 26.0 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that places them in the top-5 among NHL teams. Its penalty kill is ranked eighth overall, and it’s successfully killed off 82.9 percent of its penalties.
The Preds, as a collective unit, have been penalized 5.5 times per game this season, and 4.0 per game over its last five games. The team has been forced to kill penalties 8.6 minutes per game over their last five outings.
Boasting a .926 save percentage and 30.2 saves per game, Pekka Rinne (16-6-2) has been the primary option in goal for Nashville this year. Rinne played last night, however, so head coach Peter Laviolette could choose to rest him and instead roll with Juuse Saros (1-4-1 record, .870 save percentage, 3.71 goals against average).
The visiting Predators have relied on Filip Forsberg and Kyle Turris heavily this year. Forsberg (28 points) has tallied 14 goals and 14 assists, and has recorded multiple points in seven different games. Turris has five goals and 14 assists to his nameand has registered at least one point in 11 games.
On the other side of the rink, Dallas is 16-11 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 3.1 units this season. Through 27 regular season matches, 14 of its games have gone over the total, while 12 have gone under and just one has pushed. It’s 10-2 SU as the home team this season.
The Stars have converted on just 20.9 percent of their power play chances this year, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked third overall, and it’s successfully killed off 84.7 percent of all opponent power plays.
Stars skaters have been sent to the penalty box 4.5 times per game in total this season, and 5.4 per game over their last five home outings. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 8.4 minutes per game over their last five outings.
Ben Bishop has stopped 25.5 shots per game as the primary choice in goal for the Stars. Bishop has 13 wins and nine losses to his credit and has maintained a .912 save percentage and 2.59 goals against average this season.
Tyler Seguin (14 goals, 13 assists) will pace the offensive attack for the Stars.
Nashville Predators vs. Dallas Stars Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Predators, O/U – Under
Notes
Betting Notes
Three of Nashville’s last ten games have been decided by a shootout. The team is 2-1 in those games and 3-2 overall in shootouts this season.
The total has gone over in three of Dallas’ last five games.
Dallas has scored 3.1 goals per game overall this year, but has upped it to 4.6 per match up across its five-game winning streak.
Over Nashville’s last ten games, six of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 4-2 in those games).
