Predators Go for Sixth Straight Win When Stars Come to Town

Tue, Mar 30, 2021
By Jim Vassallo (Veri.bet Writer)

The Dallas Stars (11-12-9, 31 points) visit the Nashville Predators (18-17-1, 37 points) on Tuesday, March 30, at 8 PM ET.

These Central Division teams are trying to keep pace with the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Nashville is sitting in fourth place, while Dallas is in seventh.

These teams have only played four times so far this season and the series is deadlocked at two wins apiece. 

Along with winning five in a row, the Predators are also 7-3-0 in their last 10 games played. The Stars have lost two straight and are just 3-3-4 in their last 10 games.

Dallas has struggled this season after making it to the Stanley Cup Finals last year, eventually falling to the Lightning in six games (4-2).

The Stars’ last two losses came in a back-to-back with the Florida Panthers, losing 4-3 and 4-1. Dallas went down 3-1 in the first period and never recovered.

The two straight losses to Florida dropped Dallas to 7-6-7 at home. 

“I talked two weeks ago about the challenges we have,” Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. “Do we believe we can do it, do we want to do it? So, got to stay one step ahead of it. We’re going into Nashville; we have to beat them.”

Nashville has won five in a row and seven of their last eight games. The last time the Predators hit the ice they picked up a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

“That wasn't the prettiest game, but we found a way to win and that's the important thing," Roman Josi said. “It's huge for us and gives us a lot of energy.”

Josi scored the winning goal with 6:33 remaining in the third period for the Predators.

“We had some time and space,” Josi said. “There were a lot of nice passes and I just kind of walked in. I was thinking lower blocker and it went (off the left) post and in.”

“Right now there's a lot of consistency in how we want to play,” Nashville head coach John Hynes said. “We have the commitment we need for success.”

Nashville is now 4-0 against Chicago this season. The win was the second in a row over Chicago, which helped propel Nashville past the Blackhawks in the division standings even though both teams have 37 points.

The injury list for tonight’s game features players only from Nashville. Filip Forsberg is day-to-day (upper body), Mark Borowiecki is out (upper body), and Matt Benning is day-to-day (upper body).

Despite being the road team and having won just three times in their last 10 games in regulation, the Stars are -1.5-point favorites against the Predators tonight. Of the four games these teams have played against each other, no game has ended with less than five goals scored. Three of the four games saw seven total goals scored. Your best bet is to take the OVER 5.5 total goals tonight.