Two teams that boast stellar goaltenders will collide in the second round, as Ben Bishop and the Dallas Stars travel to St. Louis to kick things off against Jordan Binnington and the Blues at Enterprise Center. Sportsbooks opened the Blues as -155 home favorites with a total of 5.
Standout Stats
- Bishop, a Vezina Trophy finalist for the third time in his career, is returning to face his hometown team and the one that drafted him in 2005. The 32-year-old made 47 saves in Dallas’ 2-1 Game 6 victory over Nashville on Monday and recorded a 1.90 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in the series against the Predators.
- St. Louis also needed six games to dispatch Winnipeg, with Jaden Schwartz notching a natural hat trick in a 3-2 win in Game 6 on Saturday. Binnington rebounded from a disastrous outing in Game 3 to surrender only six goals over the final three games of the first-round series.
- St. Louis fell to Dallas in both of its home contests this season, but the Blues defeated the Stars in their last postseason meeting, ousting Dallas during a second-round series in 2016. Star winger Vladimir Tarasenko scored three times against the Stars in 2018-19.
- The 5-goal total is rare in the NHL these days. There have been 1,317 NHL games played thus far combined in both the 2018-19 NHL regular season and playoffs, and only 14 of those have closed with a total of 5 goals. In those contests, the OVER/UNDER is 4-6-4.
- The Stars’ top line carried them from start to finish against the Predators, as each member of the unit recorded six points. Alexander Radulov burned his former team for a club-best four goals, while Tyler Seguin added two and captain Jamie Benn had a team high-tying five assists.
- Dallas’ penalty kill has been outstanding in the postseason, evidenced by the Stars going a perfect 15-for-15 on the penalty kill in the first round.
- The Stars have had a major edge in this series of late. In Dallas’ past seven matchups with St. Louis, the Stars are 6-1 SU. Dallas is also 6-1 SU and 7-0 on the puckline in its last seven on the road as an underdog.
My best bet for Stars-Blues
Stars moneyline
While the Blues have been playing the best hockey out of every team in the NHL since the calendar turned to 2019, I think the Stars are being undervalued in this series and I expect Dallas to pick up at least one win on the road in the first two games in Missouri. The difference-maker is Bishop, as the veteran goaltender has been lights-out of late and should give St. Louis fits.
The Stars are 6-1 SU and 7-0 ATS in their last seven games as road underdogs.away The total has gone UNDER in three of the Blues’ last four games at home (avg. combined score: 5.5).home The Stars are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games vs their division on the road.away
