NHL Betting – Stars Shorthanded for Clash With Hawks

Chicago Blackhawks (-115) at Dallas Stars (-105, 5.5 o/u)

First place in the Central Division is on the line tonight when the Chicago Blackhawks (41-21-6, 88 pts) visit the Dallas Stars (40-20-8, 88 pts) at the American Airlines Center (8:30 PM Eastern).

The toughest division in hockey, the Central is home to the top three teams in the West, with St. Louis lurking just a point behind the Blackhawks and Stars. You might say neither the Hawks nor Stars can afford a slip-up tonight, but both are already sliding coming into this matchup.

The Blackhawks have won just five of their last 12, dropping some key division games to Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, and Dallas over that stretch. But there’s good news for a Chicago team trying to find a spark: they will have Marian Hossa back after he was sidelined nine games by a lower leg injury.

Meanwhile, the Stars have lost eight of their last 11, including a 4-3 OT setback to the lowly Montreal Canadiens last Tuesday.

The defensive effort has been lacking in Dallas: the team has allowed 40 goals in their last ten games. You could forgive some lapses, though, as the team is missing defensemen John Klingberg, Jordie Benn, and Jason Demers.

Adding to the Stars’ injury woes, forward Patrick Sharp will also be out of the lineup tonight.

Today’s game will be the fourth meeting of the season between the division rivals. Dallas won two of the first three; Chicago won in Dallas, 5-1, on February 6. The Blackhawks have won six of the last ten head-to-head, though. The game total has hit the over in seven of those.

Both teams are having a rough stretch right now, but Chicago is healthier; Dallas is missing too many defensive players to keep the prolific Chicago attack at bay.

Pick: Chicago (-115).

(Photo Credit: Dinur (Originally uploaded to Flickr. Photo may appear cropped)[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/].)