(14-21  -2.64 units)

Blue Jackets  +145 moneyline 1*

CBJ is coming off two defensively poor games, and will be looking for a better all around effort against the Stanley Cup Champions. Given the pre-season rankings and the fact that both teams are trending in opposite directions of each other in two game streaks, we have a line that is in inflated favor of the Blues.

While the obvious St. Louis setback here is the absence of their best goal scorer Vlad Tarasenko, I like the Jackets here for other reasons. First off, Tortorella is not the type of coach who will allow his team to have three bad defensive efforts in a row…especially with the back up goalie in, and especially with a team that has fully bought into his style. Second, while sloppy at times, CBJ is still a very potent core with a lot of young players on the rise. For them to be disrespected this badly mainly for the pretentious reasons above, all value bettors should have this play in their radars.

I know it is Friday. Arenas will be full. Hype will be strong. However, I think the Jackets play for the win today.

Stars moneyline +126  1*

The Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche see similar but not exactly the same kind of line setting pattern as the one above. Colorado, ranked highly to start the season, did not live anything short of the expectations of them through the first month of the season, as they sit among the top of the entire league with their young guns running the show. The only problem right now though, is that two of the three first liners continue to be out of the lineup. The absence of Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog is going to be a problem against a defensive team like Dallas, and Colorado may also be finding themselves losing a bit of rhythm from their hot start. Nonetheless however, because of their hot start, they continue to be favored quite strongly at home.

The Dallas Stars are on the opposite side of things, as they (also projected ranked high to start the season) saw an extended losing streak in the first month of the season and are still trying to climb out of that hole. The fact that they will likely be going with backup Anton Khudobin will also cause them to lose points in favor.

The Stars have been looking better as of late though. It appears as though this team of veterans has finally found some defensive stability, and also flexed their ability to score too in their 6-3 comeback win over Minnesota three nights ago. With two full days of rest, the Stars will know exactly what to do in Colorado to keep their skaters fresh and to keep the Avs offense at bay.

After watching Colorado get exposed late in the game against the Panthers on Wednesday evening, I think this may prove to be a blemish on the team’s flow at home as well in addition to their 5-2 loss against the Ducks prior to that.

There is tremendous value on taking Dallas today against a banged up Avs offense.