A Total for Nashville vs. Dallas

Predators vs. Stars, 8:30 ET

It was not a good weekend on the ice for me. I'm not quite in the fade territory, but I am in a spot where I need to get back to consistently winning. As I've said a few times, this is a work in progress, I'm not expecting to win every game or something, but the success has been here. I'm going to switch from a moneyline play though (I do lean towards the Wild again) and go with a total that I like for tonight's game.

The Nashville Predators are staring up at playoff teams right now. They are five points behind the Winnipeg Jets in the standings and need every game they can get. It might be tough against the Dallas Stars, but I don't know if I feel comfortable backing them on the road. They have lost three of their past five games and three of them went under tonight's total of 6 goals. On the season, the Predators have only allowed 2.84 goals per game on average. The two games against the Stars, they've scored a total of two points. Even on the season, they haven't been very productive offensively, averaging just 2.75 goals per game. Over four of their past five games they've scored two or fewer goals. They are likely to have Juuse Saros in the net tonight. He's had a nice season, and he has a .918 save percentage. He was in net for both games against the Stars and allowed four goals in both of those games.

The Stars certainly seem to have the Predators number this season, but they haven't played since October and a lot can change in that time. I do need to give them credit, the Stars have put together a very strong season with a 41-21-14 record and have been just as good at home as they have been on the road. They have allowed three goals or fewer in four of their past five games. Their offense has been okay, but they've been a bit inconsistent. They've scored three, one, four, five, and two goals over their past five matches. They've put up some good totals against Saros, but this isn't a team that is inconsistent form right now. They are likely starting Scott Wedgewood tonight. He hasn't been in the net for them since February so it is hard to judge how he will perform.

I'm going to back the under in this game. Neither team's offense looks very sharp at the moment and while six goals are reasonable, I think that we will get a 3-2 final or something similar. I actually would prefer to play over 5.5 if that is available, but I am seeing a 6 out there. I'll take the under 6 in this one.

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