The Columbus Blue Jackets have long dominated the Dallas Stars, as the Jackets’ 4-1 home victory over the Stars last Tuesday was their sixth straight triumph over Dallas. Since the 2012-13 season, Columbus is 11-2-1 against Dallas. This time around it’s the Stars’ turn to play host, with sportsbooks opening them as -115 home favorites with a total of 6.
- The Blue Jackets are 6-0 SU in their last six games vs the Stars (avg. winning margin: 2.0).
- The total has gone UNDER in the Blue Jackets’ last five games vs the Stars (avg. combined score: 3.8).
- The Stars are 8-1 SU in their last nine games at home after losing their most recent home game.
Blue Jackets vs Stars Game Center
Blue Jackets’ offense is finally rounding into form
The Blue Jackets, who are carrying a four-game point streak into tonight’s matchup, have been getting offensive contributions from across the roster lately. Artemi Panarin set up Pierre-Luc Dubois’ club high-tying seventh goal of the campaign in Saturday’s 5-4 shootout loss to the New York Rangers. Defenseman Seth Jones set up a career high-tying three goals against the Rangers to boost his total to six assists in his last four games, while Alexander Wennberg and Nick Foligno extended their point streaks to three games vs New York.
Dallas fell for the third time in four outings with a 5-4 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday to move to 1-1-2 SU in that span. While his team hasn’t been able to match his offensive output, Tyler Seguin has seven goals in 14 career meetings with the Blue Jackets and enters tonight with goals in back-to-back games to push his team-leading point total to 17.
Alexander Radulov is expected to return to the ice in this one after missing 10 of Dallas’ past 11 games due to a lower-body injury. In seven games in 2018-19, Radulov has five goals and six assists.
Low-scoring affairs tend to occur in this series
UNDER bettors love seeing the Stars and Blue Jackets get together, as the last five meetings between the clubs have gone below the closing total with an average combined score of 3.8 goals. The Stars rarely lose two in a row in Dallas, as the squad is 8-1 SU in its past nine at American Airlines Center when losing its previous home game. Columbus is 6-2 SU in its previous eight when coming off a loss, though.
Khudobin set to start for the Stars
Anton Khudobin is listed as the probable starter in this one. Khudobin (3-1-1, 2.37 goals-against average, .926 save percentage) picked up the win in Dallas' triumph over the San Jose Sharks last week, turning aside 33 of 36 shots in the process. As of this writing, the Blue Jackets had yet to announce a starting goalie.
