Dallas Stars vs Montreal Canadiens Betting Picks

Dallas is one of the NHL’s elite teams on paper. Now the Stars are proving that on the ice. After suffering through a four-game losing streak last month, Dallas is 10-3 in its last 13 games. The Stars come into Montreal on a three-game winning streak after edging Ottawa 3-2 in overtime two days ago as a slight road underdog. Montreal is going in the other direction. After an impressive 9-2 hot streak, the Canadiens have lost three of their last four games. The last one may have been Montreal's worst game of the season. That was a 5-1 loss to the Kings at home this past Tuesday. The Canadiens could only manage 22 shots on goal and were stymied by LA's defense. Samuel Montembeault had another disappointing game in net for Montreal. Jakub Dobes will be in goal today for Montreal. He surrendered four goals in his last start to the Devils in a 4-3 loss a week ago. The Stars have scored 20 power-play goals, which leads the NHL. Monreal is just average in killing penalties. Dallas has momentum. Montreal is in a rut. Take the Stars.

This is the first meeting this season, and Dallas has won six of the past eight games against the Canadiens, who are playing a back-to-back after going overtime to defeat Washington 3-2 last night. Rookie Jakub Dobes had another strong outing, stopping 15 of 17 shots for Montreal, who likely will go with Samuel Montembeault tonight, and he has a 3.05 goals-against average. Jake Oettinger is 20-9-1 with a 2.49 GAA and a .908 save percentage for the Stars, who have won six in a row, including 4-1 over Philadelphia on Thursday night. Dallas has allowed only 2.0 goals per game during the streak, and they have won their past four road games. The Stars are 12-6 UNDER their past 18 games and 17-2 UNDER their past 19 Saturday games. The Canadiens have gone UNDER eight of 12 versus the Western Conference. Take the Stars and the UNDER.

Dallas has won five of the past seven meetings although the Stars are looking for payback for a 4-3 loss to the Canadiens on Jan. 2. The Stars had won four in a row before losing 5-4 to Toronto in a back-to-back spot on Wednesday after defeating Buffalo 2-1 the night before. Jake Oettinger is 17-9-2 with a 2.96 goals-against average for Dallas, which is averaging 3.67 goals per game compared to 2.74 for Montreal. Oettinger has won eight of his past 10 starts and the Canadiens have lost 12 of 17 home games. Sam Montembeault is confirmed in net for the Canadiens with a 3.06 GAA this season. Montreal defeated Washington 5-2 on Tuesday, but the Canadiens still have lost 11 of their past 17 games. Play the Stars as a Max Play.