Rangers vs. Stars Odds
| Rangers Odds | +114 |
| Stars Odds | -137 |
| Over / Under | 5.5 -122 / +100 |
The Dallas Stars host the New York Rangers in a battle between two first-place teams on Monday night.
The Rangers have fared well when these two teams have met over the previous couple of seasons, winning each of the past three meetings and four of the past five.
Will New York take care of business once again, or can Dallas defend its home ice?
Let's dive into my betting prediction and preview for Rangers vs. Stars on Monday, November 20, as well as the latest NHL odds today.
New York Rangers
It makes sense why we are catching New York at plus-money here – Dallas is the better team overall and the Rangers aren't going to keep winning forever. With that said, they enter this contest amidst an 11-game point streak and we should look to keep betting them until the wheels fall off.
One of the most impressive aspects of this point streak is that many of the games came without one of the best goaltenders in the world: Igor Shesterkin. However, Shesterkin returned from injury on Saturday and picked up right where he left off as he stopped 30 of 33 pucks for a .909 SV% en route to New York's 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.
Shesterkin is now 5-0 with a commanding .932 SV% and 1.96 GAA over his past five starts. This success is likely to continue against the Stars, a team he is 4-0-1 against in his career with a .913 SV% and 2.60 GAA.
It helps that Shesterkin has an extremely strong blue line in front of him (even with the absence of Adam Fox) as the Rangers rank seventh in the league in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) at 5-on-5.
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Dallas Stars
Dallas' blue line is also extremely strong, but it still ranks three spots lower in xGA/60 at 5-on-5. Backing up this defense is goaltender Jake Oettinger, who is slated to get the nod between the pipes on Monday.
While Oettinger is nearly on Shesterkin's level, he is not quite there (yet). Oettinger has also had some shaky starts recently, posting .876 SV% and 3.71 GAA over his previous three outings.
The latest of those starts came against the Colorado Avalanche, a game in which the Stars let go of a 3-0 lead to fall 6-3 in what was a demoralizing effort. Dallas will bounce back from that outing, and sooner rather than later, but it will certainly have its hands full against a Rangers team that enters this contest with a tremendous amount of confidence given its 11-game point streak.
Rangers vs. Stars
Betting Pick & Prediction
There's also a few other areas of the game that New York has fared better than the Stars in. The Rangers have been better on special teams and in the faceoff circle, which could be enough to give them the edge in an otherwise even matchup.
Considering the recent history between these two teams, as well as the discrepancy in recent form between Shesterkin and Oettinger, let's take a shot on New York to keep the point streak alive at plus-money. Finally, the Stars are just 4-3 on home ice this season.
Pick: Rangers ML (+122 at FanDuel) | Play to +110
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