It’s not too often these days that we see the Nashville Predators at plus money. But that’s where they sat Tuesday afternoon as they get back to work after the All-Star break — against a Dallas Stars team that’s 12 points behind them in the Central Division standings.
And it’s as if like the Predators have been slumping. They went 4-0-1 in their last five games going into the break, and have an impressive road record of 14-7-4 so far this season.
It starts with elite goaltending from Juuse Saros and fans out through the roster, with a red-hot top line of Filip Forsberg, Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene, All-Star defenseman Roman Josi having another Norris Trophy-caliber season and rookie power forward Tanner Jeannot bringing so much gusto to his game that he’s forcing his teammates to amp up their energy levels to keep pace with him.
Wednesday’s game will be the second meeting of the year between the Predators and Stars; Nashville skated away from the American Airlines Center with a 4-2 win in early November.
Based on their overall body of work this season and the way they’ve been trending recently, I like the Preds to post a similar result. Nashville has been excellent as a road underdog. Shop for the best price for Preds on the moneyline.
The play: Predators, +105.