Dallas vs Montreal Prediction 17 January 2025

🔊 Will the "Stars" hold back the impressive run of the "Canadians"? Dallas started the new calendar year extremely well and firmly established themselves in the playoff eight of the West. However, the second half of the regular season is ahead, which will be full of challenges. Montreal, on the other hand, is experiencing a true renaissance and has closely approached the playoff zone in the East. The team needs only a few more wins to reach their cherished goal.

📊 Head-to-Head

The opponents have already met in the current regular season, just a few days ago. The match was extremely hard-fought and uncompromising. The winner could not be determined in regular time. Patrick Laine and Jamie Benn scored goals. Meanwhile, the Montreal players failed to convert any post-match shootouts and understandably suffered a final defeat (1:2 shootouts).

🟢 Dallas

Peter DeBoer's team started the year as if the playoffs were just around the corner. The "Stars" won seven out of eight January games, with only one slip-up. At that time, Ottawa's goaltender Leevi Merilainen became an almost insurmountable wall for the team (2:3). It's worth noting that the club played five consecutive games on the road against Eastern Conference teams and now returns home with an excellent haul of points. This impressive tournament surge allowed the team to confidently secure their place in the playoff eight of the West and look to the future with optimism. There are all prerequisites for maintaining their position and further development.

🔴 Montreal

The Canadian club rose like a Phoenix from the ashes right at the equator of the regular season. Martin St. Louis' team suffered only two defeats in regular time in their last 13 games. The club quickly moved from the bottom of the standings straight to the edge of the playoff eight in the East. However, it's quite difficult to say what else this team is capable of. A strong impetus for improved results was given by the return of Finnish sniper Patrick Laine, who, by his mere presence in the lineup, was able to set his teammates on a positive note. Additionally, the forward regularly features in the final reports.

🔗 Projected Lineups

Dallas: Oettinger - Heiskanen, Lyubushkin - Robertson, Hintz, Dadonov

Montreal: Montembeault - Matheson, Hutson - Caufield, Suzuki, Slafkovsky

🥅 Goalkeepers

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger has been getting more rest time and now alternates games with his partner Casey DeSmith. This move by the coaching staff has benefited the American. In the last couple of matches, he maintained a save percentage of 96%, which is elite by league standards.

Montreal's goalie Samuel Montembeault has made a significant contribution to his team's numerous recent successes. It is now clear why he earned his spot on Canada's roster for the Four Nations Cup in February. In his last six games, he has suffered only one defeat in regular time, against Chicago (84.6%). In all other instances, the Canadian looked almost flawless.

📝 Editor's Prediction

Both opponents are quite difficult to classify as teams with outstanding scoring ability, but they never leave the ice without scoring goals. In particular, in 11 out of their last 12 head-to-head matches, opponents have consistently scored more than four goals. It's also worth noting that Dallas fits well into this trend within the current regular season. At least four goals were scored in 10 out of their last 11 "Stars" matches. In our opinion, the teams should easily surpass the NHL's minimum standard for offensive efficiency this time as well. Our key bet is total over 4.5 goals.