Dallas Stars vs St. Louis Blues Betting Picks

Dallas won 50 games last season and allowed 226 goals, the second-fewest in the league. Its plus-53 goal differential was fourth-best, and St. Louis finished minus-27. The Blues scored 231, 48 fewer than the Stars, and finished 26 points back in the standings, 86-112. Both clubs open their season tonight, with the Stars at home, where they went 26-11-4 last year against a Blues road record of 17-19-5. Dallas took three of the four meetings, and the last two were one-goal games, so the head-to-head margin is thin. St. Louis did change. It lost Jordan Kyrou to Washington and added Mason McTavish, so last season's Blues numbers come from a reworked roster, which is why I lean toward the Stars. Glen Gulutzan is in his second year as the Stars' head coach, so the coach behind that 226 is the same one. Back the Stars tonight.

When last spotted this past Monday, the Blues were blowing a four-goal lead against the Predators in a 6-5 road loss. That marked the fifth straight game in which St. Louis has surrendered at least four goals. It was also St. Louis' fifth straight OVER. There has been an average of 8.8 goals scored during the Blues' past eight games. The Blues are giving up an average of 4.3 goals per game during their last eight games. They rank 30th defensively and 29th in killing penalties. The Blues' offense has picked up, however. They are averaging four goals a game during their past five games. Dallas is averaging 3.8 goals per game in its last five contests. The Stars rank 11th in scoring and have the second-best power play in the league. The two teams met eight days ago in St. Louis, and the Stars won 4-3. Take the OVER. 

St. Louis has gone UNDER four in a row, and Dallas is 6-2 UNDER its past eight games. The Stars have failed to score more than once in four of their past five games, including Thursday's 1-0 defeat against Columbus. Now the Stars have to play a back-to-back, and they have lost four straight against Central Division teams. Dallas has lost four of six home games and 11 of 14 overall. The Stars are likely to go against Joel Hofer, who is 11-10-2 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage, including four shutouts for the Blues. Jake Oettinger has lost six of his past eight starts for Dallas. Take the Blues on the puck line and the UNDER.