Saturday picks: Stars to reclaim Central lead
Welcome to the NHL Daily Picks where hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters make their selections for all of the day’s games.
Dallas Stars vs. Boston Bruins, 8 p.m. ET
Even though they’ve fallen behind the Chicago Blackhawks in the standings over the past couple of weeks, the Dallas Stars have actually remained in the driver’s seat when it comes to winning the NHL’s Central Division. Not only do they still have games in hand on their division rival, but they are still collecting points at a pace better than almost anybody else in the league.
Entering play on Saturday they still have the second best points percentage in the NHL, and if they can top the Boston Bruins and snap a two-game losing streak, will reclaim the top spot in the division for the time being.
Saturday’s game is also another opportunity for Stars forward Tyler Seguin to come back to haunt the team that traded him three years ago, something he did earlier this season when he recorded a hat trick in Boston during a Stars’ 5-3 win.
The Bruins are wrapping up a six-game road trip and are looking to end it on a positive note. So far they have won three of the first five games on the trip and will be trying maintain their second-place spot in the Atlantic Division and perhaps even gain ground on the first-place Florida Panthers.
It’s been a fascinating year for the Bruins as a team that was one of the worst offensive teams in the league last season has managed to overcome the losses of Dougie Hamilton, Milan Lucic and Carl Soderberg and come back as one of the top goal scoring teams in the league. A huge year from Loui Eriksson — one of the key pieces acquired in the Seguin trade — has played a significant role in that, as well as a career year from Brad Marchand who has already matched his career with 28 goals on the season (with more than 20 games still play) and has scored at least one goal in 12 of his past 15 gamse.
These are two of the three highest scoring teams in the NHL this season (both trail only the Washington Capitals) so it has the potential to be an exciting back-and-forth game. In the end, though, it’s going to be the Stars getting the win and the top spot, at least until Chicago plays on Sunday, in the Central Division. Pick: Dallas Stars 4, Boston Bruins 3
The rest of Saturday’s picks
Tampa Bay Lightning 4, Pittsburgh Penguins 2
Philadelphia Flyers 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 1
Detroit Red Wings 5, Ottawa Senators 3
Florida Panthers 4, Winnipeg Jets 1
Washington Capitals 2, New Jersey Devils 0
Los Angeles Kings 4, Nashville Predators 1
St. Louis Blues 3, Arizona Coyotes 2
Colorado Avalanche 6, Edmonton Oilers 4
Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin faces his former team, the Boston Bruins, on Saturday night. (USATSI)
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