New Jersey Devils at Dallas Stars NHL Picks & Predictions 1/4/2018

Thursday, January 4, 2018

American Airlines Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The New Jersey Devils head to American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Stars on Thursday, January 4, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Devils at +153 and the Stars at -170.

New Jersey has a record of 22-10-7 this year and away from home they have a record of 10-5-4-2. They are 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 123 goals and surrendered 116 goals for a point differential of +7. For the year they have an ATS mark of 22-17-0 and an over/under record of 21-17-0. Dallas has a record of 22-16-3 including 14-5-1-0 on home ice this year. They are 4th in the Central Division. They've scored 123 goals and have given up 114 for a goal differential of +9. Their record against the spread is 22-19-0 while their over/under mark is 23-17-0.

Valuable New Jersey Devils Betting Trends

The New Jersey Devils are 22-17-0 straight up this year

The New Jersey Devils are 21-17-0 against the over/under this season

Important Dallas Stars Betting Trends

The Dallas Stars are 22-19-0 straight up this year

The Dallas Stars are 23-17-0 against the over/under this season

Key New Jersey Devils Injuries

11/15/17 D Mirco Mueller Collarbone IR (11/12)

Key Dallas Stars Injuries

11/12/17 D Marc Methot Knee IR (11/08)
01/02/18 LW Remi Elie Illness is "?" Thursday vs New Jersey
01/01/18 C Martin Hanzal Lower Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Jesper Bratt has scored 25 total points this year for the Devils. He has 10 goals this season with 59 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He has a total of 15 assists on the year and averages 16.2 minutes played per contest. Nico Hischier averages 16.4 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 9% by tallying 8 goals on 90 attempts. He has 17 assists, giving him a total of 25 points on the year. Cory Schneider has 17 wins and 7 losses this season in goal for the Devils. He has 962 shots against him and he's surrendered 77 goals. He's made 885 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Jamie Benn has 37 total points this season for the Stars. He has 16 goals this year with 122 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 21 assists on the year and averages 19.4 minutes played per contest. Tyler Seguin averages 20.2 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by scoring 19 goals on 166 attempts. He has 17 assists, giving him a total of 36 points on the year. Ben Bishop has 17 wins and 11 losses this season in net for the Stars. He has 901 shots against him and he's given up 77 goals. He's made 824 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Devils have 51 total points this year, which is 8th in the NHL. They've scored 123 goals while giving up 116 scores, which has them ranked 10th and 15th respectively. They have had 116 power play chances and scored 25 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That is 7th in the league. The Devils have given up 137 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 84%, ranking them 6th when short-handed. They average 30 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.35% for the year. They allow 33 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 14th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Stars are 12th in the league with a total of 47 points this season. They have 25 power play goals on 123 chances for a percentage of 20%. That is 11th in the NHL. They've given up 142 power play opportunities and surrendered 26 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, ranking 12th overall. As a team, the Stars are 8th with a total of 123 goals scored while they've given up 114 goals this season, ranking 19th in goals against. They average 31 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.53%. As a unit they give up 29 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 19th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

New Jersey has a Corsi percentage of 47% as they've tried 2,098 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,362 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 29th in Corsi percentage. They are 24th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 47.7% as they have 1,619 shots while they've given up 1,775 attempts on defense. The Devils start possessions in the offensive zone 47.2% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 52.8% for the year. That puts them 29th and 5th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,159 face-off wins as opposed to 1,299 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.2%. That is 29th overall in the NHL. On defense New Jersey has 838 hits and they've blocked 587 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 15th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Stars are 24th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 48.5% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51.5% for the season, which is 6th in the NHL. They have 1,365 face-off wins compared to 1,249 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 52.2%. That is 4th in the league. On defense Dallas has 849 hits and they have blocked 590 shots from the opposition, which is 13th in the league. Dallas is 8th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.8% as they've attempted 2,405 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,242 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 51.6% ranks 7th as they have 1,763 attempts while they have given up 1,652 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Devils/Stars NHL game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take New Jersey +153

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