The Washington Capitals are solid home favorites on Monday night as they host the Dallas Stars in a game that can be seen on NBCSN. The Stars are on the fringe of playoff contention in the Western Conference while the Capitals have the top record in the Eastern Conference. This series had been completely dominated by Dallas until earlier this year when the Capitals broke a nine-game losing streak in the series by winning 4-3 in Dallas.
This war on the ice will go down Monday, March 6, 2017 at 7 p.m. ET at the Verizon Center. The game will be televised live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Monday schedule.
Odds Analysis
There is no question that the Stars are going to be big underdogs in this contest but Dallas proved against Pittsburgh that they are still very capable of winning games as they beat the Penguins 3-2 on Tuesday. The Stars are playing the second game of a quick two-game road trip as they were in Florida on Saturday. The Stars were 7-22 in their first 29 road games with 14 games going over and 15 going under.
Dallas was a seller at the NHL trading deadline but the team still has a lot of talent. The team traded Patrick Eaves to Anaheim, Jordie Benn to Montreal and Johnny Oduya to Chicago. The Stars should have wilted and quit against a superior Pittsburgh team after losing those players but they didn’t, as they rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win 3-2.
The Capitals are wrapping up a three-game homestand and they will be playing with one day of rest as they hosted the Flyers on Saturday. The Capitals have the best home record in the league at 25-6 with 13 games going over, 12 going under with six pushes.
The Capitals made a big deal before the trading deadline as they got defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk from the St. Louis Blues. “We felt it was important to acquire another defenseman to strengthen and add depth to our blue line,” said Capitals GM Brian McLellan. “Kevin is a skilled, puck moving defenseman who we think will help our team at even strength and on the power play.”
Special Teams
The Stars are just 19th in the league on the power play at 18.2%. The Stars are scoring just 2.8 goals per game which is 12th in the league. Dallas needs to stay out of the penalty box in this game as they are last in the league in penalty killing at 73.4%. The Stars are allowing 3.2 goals per game, which is 28th in the league.
The Capitals are fifth in the league on the power play at 22.1%. They are third in the league in goals per game at 3.3 per contest. The Capitals are sixth in penalty killing at 84.1% and they are first in the league in goals against at 2.1 per contest.
Goalie Report
The Stars have struggled in goal this season as neither Kari Lehtonen nor Antti Niemi have played that well. Lehtonen is 14-25 with a 2.94 goals against average while Niemi is 11-13 with a 3.14 goals against average.
The Capitals have two really good goaltenders, as Braden Holtby is 32-13 with a 1.95 goals against average, while Philipp Grubauer is 10-7 with a 2.11 goals against average.
Free NHL Picks
The Capitals finally beat the Stars earlier this season, winning 4-3 in Dallas. Washington still has to end their home losing streak against the Stars as they have dropped the last five.
The Stars have some potent offensive talent but they don’t play good enough defense and their goaltending isn’t good enough to challenge top teams like Washington. I will lay the price and take the Capitals in this contest.
NHL Odds: Capitals 5, Stars 2
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