Best NHL Prop Bets Today: Value Leans Towards the Stars!

After a grueling seven game series that concluded with the Oilers managing to squeak out a win after nearly blowing a three goal lead, the Western Conference Finals matchup is now set and geared to go with the Oilers battling it out against the Dallas Stars. The Stars opened as a slight favorite to win game one, as well as the series, and now momentum is on their side for their players to pace a tired Oilers squad. Expect the Stars to remain aggressive on offense, taking advantage of an underwhelming Stuart Skinner in net.

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Edmonton Oilers vs. Dallas Stars - Game 1 Prop Bets (8:30 PM, EST)

Stuart Skinner Over 2.5 Goals Against (-140) at DraftKings

If you read our NHL best bet article before our player prop piece, then you will realize that our first prop strongly correlates with the Dallas Stars moneyline as they are in a position to run up the score on the Edmonton Oilers. Especially with Stuart Skinner in net as it has been a playoff performance to forget for the Oilers goalie as it has been a rollercoaster with his production with more valleys than peaks.

He was already benched once in their round two series against the Vancouver Canucks after a string of underwhelming performances, and his return has flirted with disaster. An argument can be made that the Oiler should not even be here as the Canucks won the Expected Goals scoreboard 2.81-2.21. That’s a 0.81 Goals Saved Above Expected, playing well over his quality of defensive capabilities for a goalie who has a Save Percentage of 0.881.

Should the Canucks have been more aggressive early and actually shot the puck, then they could have continued to expose Skinner’s low level of play. Expect the well rested Stanley Cup favorite Dallas Stars offense to ramp up the intensity as we saw them do against the Colorado Avalanche Alexandar Georgiev and rout the Oilers in game one with a high total of goals.

Bet on Stuart Skinner at DraftKings

Wyatt Johnston Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (-150) at DraftKings

Continuing the theme of the Stars remaining aggressive on the offensive end, that will result in an uptick in shot attempts. Wyatt Johnston is one of the Stars go-to source of offense, now being in a position to round back into form after a quiet game six against the Colorado Avalanche. Even when Johnston only generated 0.2 Expected Goals, he still cleared this total by finishing game six with three Shots on Goal.

Johnston has been active for the Stars offense since the start of the NHL Playoffs, finding the back of the net seven times in 13 games with 4 assists and 45 Shots on Goal. He’s cleared this number in his past three contests against the Avs and will be expected to keep up his aggressiveness against another lackluster defense. With the Oilers only on two days rest, they are prone to slowing down at a faster rate which creates sluggish transitions and higher quality lanes for the Stars to pepper the goalie and turn a shot into a Shot on Goal.

Bet on Wyatt Johnston at DraftKings