The'Vegas Golden Knights'(45-29-8) hit the road to face the Dallas Stars (52-21-9) in Game 1 of their 1st-round series at American Airlines Center. Puck drop is set for 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Golden Knights vs. Stars odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
In a matchup of last season’s Western Conference Finals, the Golden Knights march into Dallas, where they outscored the Stars 12-3 in 3 games in that series. The Knights have some injury questions with RW Mark Stone’s'(abdomen) status unknown, and D Alex Pietrangelo (illness) missed some time down the stretch. One thing that holds true is they’re a big, physical team that is built for the playoffs.
The Stars live and die with G Jake Oettinger in net. He struggled in last year’s playoffs, allowing 3+ goals in 11 of 19 starts after a banner regular season. The team tapered his workload back from 62 to 54 games this season. C Joe Pavelski was a monster in last year’s postseason with 9 goals and 5 assists in 14 games. They’ll rely heavily on the veteran again this postseason run.
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