Stars Trying to Knock Out Golden Knights in Game 5

The Dallas Stars may be underdogs for the 12th straight time in Game 5 of the Western Conference final, but they will have an opportunity to close out the series with their fourth win against the favored Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

It is win or go home for Vegas, and bettors look to be taking the favorite to stave off elimination and force a Game 6 against Dallas. The offense of the Golden Knights is seemingly overdue to bust out of a slump that has seen them score two goals or less three times in four games. When they did score three goals, they won 3-0 in Game 2 behind the fourth shutout of the postseason from goaltender Robin Lehner. The total is shaded slightly to the OVER in what could also be the highest-scoring affair of the series.

Dallas News & Notes

The Stars are one victory away from making it back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2000, and they will do just that if they can continue to play stellar defense. They have held the Golden Knights to two goals or less three times in four games, which is remarkable considering Vegas was one of the top-scoring teams before the middle part of the second round.

The biggest issue for Dallas at this point might be becoming too confident, though, which is what seemingly happened with a 3-1 lead over the Colorado Avalanche in the last round as well. The Stars gave goaltender Anton Khudobin a break, and that gave the Avalanche the confidence to win the next two games. Whether or not that same scenario will play out again here remains to be seen, but the odds are good that Khudobin will continue to be the man between the pipes in a potential clincher.

Vegas News & Notes

This is it for the Golden Knights, who will have to figure out a way to find the back of the net, or else they will be done until next season. Their top two goal scorers from the regular season have been invisible in the Western Conference final, with Max Pacioretty failing to score since Game 4 against the Vancouver Canucks and Reilly Smith on an even longer drought going back to Game 1 of that series.

The top goal scorers for Vegas in the playoffs have been Alex Tuch (eight), Shea Theodore (seven) and Mark Stone (seven). Tuch played only 42 games during the regular season, Theodore is a defenseman and Stone has not scored since Game 3 vs Vancouver. Stone also was ailing at the end of Game 4, so the Golden Knights will likely need to count on their depth to come through when they need it the most if they are going to extend this series and force a Game 6.

Betting Pick: OVER 5

Call it a hunch, but these two teams are certainly both capable of scoring a lot more than they have through the first four games, especially Vegas. It seems almost too easy to look at the obvious value picks of Dallas and the UNDER since those have been the money-makers in this series to date. Instead, bet on the unexpected of a higher-scoring game, with the Golden Knights doing everything they can to keep their season alive.