NHL Betting Preview: St. Louis Blues vs. Dallas Stars Game 1 Odds, Analysis

The Dallas Stars battled the St. Louis Blues in the Central Division standings all season long before edging them by two points for the title, earning them home ice in this second-round playoff series.

Game 1 is Friday at Dallas, with the home team sitting as a small -120 betting favorite at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The Stars split two home meetings with the Blues during the regular season, dropping four of five overall, with three of them played in St. Louis. Four of the five games were low-scoring affairs that finished under the total, according to the Odds Shark NHL Database.

The winner scored three goals or fewer in four of the games, while the loser totaled one or fewer three times.

The big question for Dallas is, who will be the team’s starting goaltender after Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi both played in the first round? Lehtonen was in net for Games 1, 2, 3 and 6 but did not play particularly well in his last two starts, surrendering four goals in each of them.

Fortunately for him, the Stars were still able to win the series clincher 5-4 on the road against the Minnesota Wild in Game 6 last Sunday.

Niemi’s performance in Game 5, though, prompted the move back to Lehtonen, as he gave up all five goals on 24 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss at home. Niemi had been solid between the pipes in Game 4, making 28 saves in a 3-2 road win.

Offensively, these teams match up well, and their last regular-season meeting was the highest-scoring of the five, with the Blues pulling off a 5-4 road victory in overtime on March 12 to pay off on the betting lines at the sportsbooks.

Jake Allen was the goalie for St. Louis in that game along with two other meetings, including a 3-0 shutout at home on December 12.

However, Brian Elliott has been the lone netminder for the Blues in the playoffs despite struggling toward the end of the first round against the third-seeded Chicago Blackhawks.

Elliott was outstanding early in that series versus the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks as St. Louis built a 3-1 lead, but he gave up 10 goals in Games 5 and 6, allowing them to tie the series before winning Game 7.