The Dallas Stars have battled back into their series with the Golden Knights without points from top end forwards Joe Pavelski, Roope Hintz and Matt Duchene, who are all due for bounce back games
Monday has just a pair of NHL games on tap with the Dallas Stars looking to even things up with the Vegas Golden Knights while the Lightning look to avoid elimination on the road in Sunrise when they take on the Panthers.
The two games give us a few chances to bounce back after a few losses and a lacklustre record of 4-5 over our last nine picks.
All betting lines are from BetMGM and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Lightning ML (+155), Lightning Over 2.5 goals (-135)
The Lightning have found some life in Game four as the offense finally awaken for six goals and have surged with three games in Game three. They are finally starting to find scoring options against Sergei Bobrovsky, who has stood on his head for far too long in this series and will continue to see more action with Tampa Bay starting to feel themselves offensively.
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The two first games in Sunrise were a departure from the norm in this matchup as the Lightning had won five of their previous six matchups at Amerant Bank Arena entering into the playoffs.
The four goals scored across the first two games were also very different from the previous six matchups where Tampa Bay outscored Florida 21 to 18 with the Panthers scoring numbers altered thanks to a 7-1 blowout win being the only loss the Lightning took during that stretch of matchups.
Florida will also be without forward Sam Bennett who helped the Panthers in the physical aspect of the game along with a decent offensive output in Game two where he scored and dished for an assist.
Tampa Bay should take advantage of his absence and continue their surge on offense and remain lively in this series and force a Game six.
Bet: Stars Golden Knights Over 5.5 goals (-120), Stars Over 2.5 goals (-165)
The Stars are favoured to bounce back in Game four and tie up this series after a narrow overtime win during Game three. The three goals scored by the Stars was the third time they’ve allowed as many goals or more in their last five home games.
Vegas is normally a tough team to beat at home with a goals against average of 2.54 during the regular season. When playing Dallas however, it is a very different story with the Stars scoring three or more goals in seven of their last nine trips to the Sin City.
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Dallas has also been able to stay competitive in this series with many of their top players not contributing at all with top end forwards Roope Hintz, Joe Pavelski and Matt Duchene all without a point through three games after all finishing with 65 or more points this season.
Their offense is only going to get hotter and have a track record of getting goals past a Golden Knights defense that seems impenetrable at home. The Golden Knights will want to take control of this series and work take a 3-1 lead that will show up through offense and the over.