After playing sweet music in their overtime win in Nashville last night, the Canadiens hit the road for the second half of their back-to-back with the Dallas Stars. At 5-2 for the season, the Habs have been one of the better teams in the NHL in the second halves of back-to-backs. The Stars have been an incredibly underwhelming team for most of the year but have started to turn things around, winning three of their last four games, and should be able to give the Atlantic Division leaders a challenge.
- The Canadiens are 1-3 in their last 4 games on the road against the Stars.
- The total has gone UNDER in 6 of the Stars' last 7 games.
- The Canadiens are 4-1 in their last 5 games against teams with losing records.
A big factor for bettors tonight is who will start in net for the Canadiens – Carey Price or Al Montoya. Montreal’s No. 1 has made back-to-back starts just once this season and stopped 20 of the 21 Washington Capital shots he faced when called upon for the second game in as many days. The Dallas Stars, however, are not a team the Habs will want to risk a Price injury on. Expect Montoya and his 4-4-2 record, 2.74 GAA and .909 save percentage to tend the Montreal goal crease tonight.
For Dallas, it really doesn’t matter who starts in net – it will be bad either way. Although they’ve managed to crawl past the .900 mark in team save percentage, the Stars are still bottom five in the NHL in that category. Antti Niemi has been the lesser of two evils with a .908 save percentage but has actually been pretty good in his 12 home starts at the American Airlines Center where he’s posted a .932 mark.
The Habs have generated an average of 41.33 shots per game in their last three and will have a great chance to win tonight if they continue that trend.
Montreal Canadiens vs Dallas Stars Matchup
Team Betting Records & Power Rankings
The Montreal Canadiens will try to spoil to the party on Wednesday; they are 23-9-6 this season, while the Stars are 16-15-7. Montreal is 15-16-7 on the totals; Dallas is 16-22. Stay Informed: follow us on Twitter for odds specials, betting line moves and Dallas vs Montreal injuries news.
The NHL Power Rankings at Odds Shark show the No. 11-rated Montreal Canadiens taking on the No. 23-rated Dallas Stars in this contest.
Statistical Matchup
Offensively, the game matches up the Dallas Stars No. 19-ranked offense (2.55 goals per game) against a Montreal Canadiens defense that ranks No. 5 at 2.29 goals per game allowed. The Stars Sportsbook has clicked at a 15.83% rate while the Canadiens have a 81.29% rate on the penalty kill.
Recent Outings Betting Recap
Montreal was a 2-1 Sportsbook in its last match on the road against the Predators. They won as +104 underdogs, while the total score of 3 made Sportsbooks of UNDER bettors.
The Stars were a 3-1 loser in their most recent outing at home against the Panthers. That made Sportsbooks of bettors who got Florida at +145 on the moneyline, while the total score (4) was good news for OVER bettors.
- Montreal is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
- Montreal is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
- Montreal is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Montreal's last 6 games on the road
- Dallas is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
- Dallas is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Dallas's last 7 games
- Dallas is 6-19 ATS in its last 25 games at home
Next Betting Matchups
Montreal at Toronto, Saturday, January 7th
Dallas at St. Louis, Saturday, January 7th
