NHL
Saturday, March 29
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Stars at Blues: What bettors need to know
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Dallas Stars at St. Louis Blues (-210, 5.5)
If the Dallas Stars qualify for a postseason berth, they certainly will have earned it. Dallas continues its quest for a playoff spot when it begins a five-game road trip against the league-leading St. Louis Blues on Saturday. The Stars climbed within three points of Phoenix for the second wild card in the Western Conference on Friday with a 7-3 home triumph over Nashville.
St. Louis has a firm eight-point lead over second-place Chicago in the Central Division and is one point ahead of Boston in the race for the Presidents' Trophy. The Blues' offense has come back to life, scoring five goals in each of the last two games after totaling two tallies in the previous three contests. St. Louis won the first two contests of the five-game season series before Dallas skated to an overtime road victory on March 11.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TXA 21 (Dallas), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE STARS (35-27-11): Seven different players scored for Dallas on Friday - including Valeri Nichushkin and Cody Eakin, who tallied nine seconds apart to seal the win. The duo came within two seconds of tying the franchise record for fastest two goals set by Bill Goldsworthy on Nov. 27, 1971, when the club was known as the Minnesota North Stars. Erik Cole missed Friday's contest due to an upper-body injury.
ABOUT THE BLUES (50-16-7): St. Louis, which kicked off its five-game homestand with a 5-1 triumph over Minnesota on Thursday, has received some stellar performances during its three-game winning streak. After Brian Elliott recorded his 25th career shutout against Pittsburgh, captain David Backes registered his second NHL hat trick versus Toronto and T.J. Oshie notched his first on Thursday. Oshie has posted three-point performances in each of his last two games after being kept off the scoresheet in his previous three contests.
TRENDS:
* Stars are 1-4 in the last five meetings in St. Louis.
* Blues are 8-2 in their last 10 vs. Western Conference.
* Over is 5-1 in Stars last six games following a win.
* Over is 14-4-1 in Blues last 19 Saturday games.
OVERTIME:
1. The back-to-back hat tricks are the first by St. Louis since December 2000, when Michal Handzus and Pavol Demitra accomplished the feat.
2. Dallas C Tyler Seguin notched an assist against Nashville to extend his point streak to 11 games. He has collected seven goals and 11 assists during the run.
3. Stars Ds Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski posted plus-5 ratings in Saturday's triumph.
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Saturday, March 29
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stars at Blues: What bettors need to know
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dallas Stars at St. Louis Blues (-210, 5.5)
If the Dallas Stars qualify for a postseason berth, they certainly will have earned it. Dallas continues its quest for a playoff spot when it begins a five-game road trip against the league-leading St. Louis Blues on Saturday. The Stars climbed within three points of Phoenix for the second wild card in the Western Conference on Friday with a 7-3 home triumph over Nashville.
St. Louis has a firm eight-point lead over second-place Chicago in the Central Division and is one point ahead of Boston in the race for the Presidents' Trophy. The Blues' offense has come back to life, scoring five goals in each of the last two games after totaling two tallies in the previous three contests. St. Louis won the first two contests of the five-game season series before Dallas skated to an overtime road victory on March 11.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TXA 21 (Dallas), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE STARS (35-27-11): Seven different players scored for Dallas on Friday - including Valeri Nichushkin and Cody Eakin, who tallied nine seconds apart to seal the win. The duo came within two seconds of tying the franchise record for fastest two goals set by Bill Goldsworthy on Nov. 27, 1971, when the club was known as the Minnesota North Stars. Erik Cole missed Friday's contest due to an upper-body injury.
ABOUT THE BLUES (50-16-7): St. Louis, which kicked off its five-game homestand with a 5-1 triumph over Minnesota on Thursday, has received some stellar performances during its three-game winning streak. After Brian Elliott recorded his 25th career shutout against Pittsburgh, captain David Backes registered his second NHL hat trick versus Toronto and T.J. Oshie notched his first on Thursday. Oshie has posted three-point performances in each of his last two games after being kept off the scoresheet in his previous three contests.
TRENDS:
* Stars are 1-4 in the last five meetings in St. Louis.
* Blues are 8-2 in their last 10 vs. Western Conference.
* Over is 5-1 in Stars last six games following a win.
* Over is 14-4-1 in Blues last 19 Saturday games.
OVERTIME:
1. The back-to-back hat tricks are the first by St. Louis since December 2000, when Michal Handzus and Pavol Demitra accomplished the feat.
2. Dallas C Tyler Seguin notched an assist against Nashville to extend his point streak to 11 games. He has collected seven goals and 11 assists during the run.
3. Stars Ds Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski posted plus-5 ratings in Saturday's triumph.
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