The Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning open the Stanley Cup Final with Game 1 of their best-of-seven series Saturday at 8 p.m. ET at Rogers Place in Edmonton. We analyze the Stars-Lightning Game 1 betting odds and lines, with NHL picks and best bets.
Stars vs. Lightning: Projected starting goalies
Anton Khudobin vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy
Khudobin has emerged as the unlikely hero for the Stars, carrying the team on his back with red-hot goaltending against the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. He stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced in a Game 5 overtime win. He finished the series with a 1.69 goals against average and .950 save percentage with one shutout. If he keeps up this pace he might nail down the Conn Smythe Trophy, the award given to the most valuable player in the playoffs.
Vasilevskiy, one of the three Vezina Trophy finalists, could also add some hardware with a Conn Smythe. He is the frontrunner if the Lightning remain on course for the Cup. While he was tripped up twice against the Islanders, he has allowed three or fewer goals in 17 of his 19 starts in the crease since the restart. He went 4-2 with a 1.63 GAA and .933 SV% in the six-game Eastern Conference Final.
Get some action on this game or any other matchup with an NHL bet at BetMGM in NJ, IN, CO and WV. Bet now!
Stars vs. Lightning: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 7:55 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Stars 3, Lightning 2 (OT)
Money line (ML)
The STARS (+135) are an attractive play in Game 1 over the moderately-favored Lightning (-162). While Tampa Bay is getting all of the attention because of its high-flying offense and hot goaltender, Dallas plays a tremendous brand of defense with a hard-hitting style and nothing comes easy for the opposition.
While many are anointing the Lightning as the shoo-in for the Cup, remember that Dallas won both of the regular-season meetings. Both of those wins came in overtime, so perhaps these teams are more evenly matched than people think.
New to sports betting? A winning $10 bet on the Stars returns a profit of $13.50, while a $10 bet on the Lightning would fetch a profit of $6.20.
Puck Line/Against the spread (ATS)
The Stars (+1.5, -200) are too expensive, even if you’re looking for a little insurance. Just roll with Dallas straight up and don’t risk two times your potential return. PASS.
Over/Under (O/U)
O/U 5 (Over: -143, Under: +120) is what’s on the board. If I had any lean, it would be to the Under, as that’s how good each of these netminders have been playing.
The best play is to AVOID completely, let’s see how Game 1 plays out, and revisit the total in later games in this series.
Want some action in this one? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com. Please gamble responsibly.
Follow @JoeWilliamsVI on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1369]