The first week of the National Hockey League season rolls along with a stacked Thursday night slate that has 10 games on the schedule. Including the home opener for the Nashville Predators, who host the Dallas Stars in a Western Conference clash. Here, we break down Stars vs Predators from a betting perspective.
Nashville got a head start on their 2022/23 NHL regular season over in Europe last week, visiting the beautiful city of Prague and picking up two wins over the San Jose Sharks. Nino Niederreiter stole the show for the Preds, scoring in both games and picking up three goals in total as he helped lift his team to a very successful overseas trip.
Thursday’s game is the first half of a home and away series for the two teams, who will repeat things on Saturday night over in Dallas. That game is a focus for another day, however, as we take a dive into this matchup and determine the best bet for Thursday night’s affair in the Music City.
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Stars vs Predators Betting Pick
This game will be played at Bridgestone Arena at 8:30 PM ET on Thursday, October 13, 2022.
Stars Hopeful Offense Improves
Dallas had a somewhat successful year last season, making the playoffs as a Wild Card before losing in seven games to the Calgary Flames. That being said, not scoring enough goals prevented the Stars from achieving more.
The Stars offense produced 2.89 goals per game, relying heavily on Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson to do the bulk of their goal scoring as the team was very top heavy in attack last season. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn both struggled last year as the years continue to pile up on the two veterans, but both big names are hopeful they can bounce back and produce more than they did last season.
If Dallas expects to spoil the Preds home opener, they will need to find the back of the net as the Nashville offense was humming out in Europe. The Preds scored seven goals over the two games and are likely to continue a strong offensive output back on home ice. It will be a tall task for the Stars to outflank a Nashville defense that added Ryan McDonagh this summer to an already strong blueline but it will be necessary if they want to earn a win.
Saros Solid In Goal
Expected Nashville starter Jusse Saros will enter the home opener with the advantage of seeing some regular season pucks last week thanks to a start against the Sharks in Prague.
Saros was excellent in the Global Series, stopping 30 out of 31 shots in the 4-1 win over San Jose to give the Predators the win in their season opener. Expect more of the same in the home opener for Saros, who looks dialed in and ready for a big season between the pipes.
In the other crease, Dallas will start Jake Oettinger as their starting goaltender for another season. Oettinger had a monster year in 2021/22, anchoring a stingy Dallas defense with a .914 save percentage and 2.53 GAA. Oettinger was a huge factor in Dallas managing to overcome their offensive woes and still make the playoffs last year. The Stars hope to get him more goals this season to take the next step, even if they are likely to be in good hands yet again with the young American goalie in between the pipes.
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Under 5.5 Best Bet
This is a tough game to call on the moneyline as the two teams are very similar in terms of quality and roster structure. However, it is a lot easier to see a low scoring game out of this Stars vs Predators matchup between two teams who leveraged sturdy backend play to make the playoffs last year.
Nashville’s scoring in Prague aside, these are two teams built from the back out that are a lot better at keeping pucks out of their net than they are at putting pucks in the back of their opponents’ nets. Oettinger and Saros are also two quality goalies who can be expected to turn aside a couple of quality chances to keep scoring low.
The Under 5.5 at +100 odds is the best play on the board for this game as until the Stars show that they have found the answers to score more goals this season, any game involving them has a good chance of being a low scoring affair.