The Dallas Stars (19-9-6), one of the league’s weakest power play offenses, welcome the Montreal Canadiens (15-15-3) and their suffocating penalty killing defense at American Airlines Center on Friday. Montreal is coming off a 2-1 overtime loss against the Avalanche on Wednesday.
The Canadiens committed only two penalties in the game, yet still conceded a power play goal. Anthony Richard was the only player to find the net for the Canadiens. Jake Allen had a terrific performance with 34 saves (.944%) in the loss.
Dallas fell 6-3 to the Oilers on Wednesday. Tyler Seguin, Wyatt Johnston, and Roope Hintz scored one apiece for the Stars. Mason Marchment had two assists to lead the team in scoring. Jake Oettinger only had 28 saves on 33 shots against (.848%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Stars won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 5-2 victory in October. Joe Pavelski led Dallas with four points (3G 1A). Arber Xhekaj led Montreal with two points (1G 1A). Oettinger got the win, saving 32 of 34 shots (.941%).
FACING OFF
Montreal is averaging 2.70 goals per game for the season, 28th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Stars team that is allowing 2.79 goals a game (11th).
Meanwhile, Dallas has found the net 3.56 times a game on average, fifth in the league, and the Canadiens are allowing opponents to score 3.45 goals per game (24th).
Montreal averages fewer shots per game (28.4) than most teams in the league, ranking 30th. Dallas’ average of 31.7 attempts ranks 14th. The Canadiens’ 32nd-ranked power play offense (13.46%) will face a challenging test against the Stars, who are the league’s fourth-best penalty killing team (83.19%).
Dallas, meanwhile, has scored on 25.74% of their power play opportunities (8th), which the hosts will be aiming to build on against Montreal’s 16th-ranked 78.45% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 31 points this season, Nick Suzuki is the top skater for the Canadiens. He has 15 goals and 16 assists in 33 games. In the net, Sam Montembeault (6-3-2) is Montreal’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 2.89 GAA and a .912% save percentage. Allen (9-12-0) leads the Canadiens in games played in goal.
He has a GAA of 3.33 and a save percentage of .897%.Jason Robertson leads the Stars in scoring with 48 points (4th in the league). He has 24 goals (3rd in the league) and 24 assists. Oettinger (13-4-3) has the best goals against average for Dallas at 2.35. He has a save percentage of .922%.
HOME AND AWAY
Montreal is 8-6-3 away from home this season. Dallas is 9-4-3 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Dallas Stars -1.5 (-115)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
