Columbus at Dallas

Dallas entered Thursday allowing a league-low 2.0 goals a game, and Jake Oettinger had an NHL-leading three shutouts in six games. Then the Devils beat the Stars 5-1 on Tuesday. New Jersey outshot them 27-18 and held a 60-38 edge in shot attempts, and coach Glen Gulutzan called it Dallas' worst game of the season. Thursday brought a 5-2 loss to Montreal in which Oettinger allowed four goals, the most he has given up in a game this year. Dallas scored one and two in those games. The Stars are 7-5-1 and close a six-game homestand against a 5-6 Columbus team. Columbus has won three overtime games in its last six: 1-0 over the Rangers, 2-1 over Vegas and 4-3 at Philadelphia. It lost 3-2 at Carolina on Thursday, and Kent Johnson scored on the power play in that game. Johnson has seven goals in 11 games, matching his total from all 76 games last season, and he carries a three-game point streak. Zach Werenski averages 28:55 of ice time and has nine assists. Charlie Coyle has one goal and eight assists, and Adam Fantilli has four goals and six points. Columbus has won its last three against Dallas, the latest a Jet Greaves shutout last season. Werenski has 13 points in 21 games against the Stars, the most of any Blue Jacket against them. He scored in the most recent meeting. I think the price treats Dallas as the team that held opponents to 2.0 goals a game, not the one that just allowed five in back-to-back games. Gulutzan has already said what the Devils game looked like, and the shot-attempt count backs him up. Columbus arrives with a scoring line that is producing, a run of tight finals that keep falling its way, and a head-to-head record in its favor. I make that a better price than this game deserves, and at a plus price we need Columbus to win well under half the time to come out ahead. Take the Blue Jackets on the moneyline as my NHL Game of the Month.