New Jersey Devils vs. Dallas Stars Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/9/2022

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX

Where to watch: Bally Sports Southwest X, MSG+

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Devils: 24-41-6

Stars: 40-26-4

The Dallas Stars essentially control their own destiny as it sits, right? With a two-point lead on the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, there’s no room for error when it comes to Dallas and how they finish down the stretch.

 

And although they have two upcoming matchups starting Saturday against the New Jersey Devils at American Airlines Center, on a back-to-back against two not-so-good teams, this is going to be a tough challenge for Dallas in whether they can keep pace or falter just a bit.

 

The Stars are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. The good news: The Stars got a point and pushed their lead over Vegas to two points with two games in hand. Bad news: They had no answer for Auston Matthews and it was eventually going to happen considering the Maple Leafs put a ton of shots on poor Scott Wedgewood.

 

But of course, the Stars are going to be favored heavily in this game against a banged-up New Jersey team. Jack Hughes, their young star, is out for the rest of the season, so this is the perfect opportunity for Dallas to take advantage of the scraps. Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski and John Klingberg scored, and Wedgewood really tried his damndest by stopping 37 of 41 shots.

 

“I’ve played him a few times now. Got to tip your hat to some guys in the league and the skill that they have. They find him. They give him looks. He’s sitting in a goal scorer’s position,” Wedgewood said of Matthews. “The two goals he had, I didn’t give him much, but he found a way to get them in there.”

 

Whether Wedgewood gets the call for the Saturday matchup or the Sunday back-to-back against Chicago, he’s definitely played well enough for Rick Bowness to give him some rest if Jake Oettinger ever needs it. Wedgewood is 2-0-1 in three starts since Dallas acquired him from the Arizona Coyotes, earning a .905 save percentage and two performances of at least 40 saves. Make no mistake, this is Oettinger’s net now, and in the future.

 

Speaking of the future, the Devils’ future is supposed to be bright but not a lot of confidence is coming out of that group right now. Hughes is out for the season and guys are just fighting for jobs at this point, as the old adage goes.

 

The Devils are coming off a 7-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at home on Thursday. Andrew Hammond was robbed of all of his hamburgers by giving up six goals on 19 shots. Nico Daws gave up the seventh goal on seven shots.

 

Jesper Bratt and Yegor Sharangovich were two of the goal scorers in that one.

 

“You feel like you’re pushing and some big error happens, and it’s in the net,” Devils forward Tomas Tatar said. “Then you try to build up again, you get chances and you keep pushing and there’s another puck in the net.”

This shouldn’t be much of a problem for the Stars, who will enjoy this short trip being at home until they have to hit the road 24 hours from now against the Blackhawks. Take care of business and try and complete this easy feat of a doubleheader sweep. Especially if Hammond is in goal, this is going to be an easy night for all involved in Dallas. Stars win 5-1

Devils are 9-18 this season in non-conference games; 19-36 dating back the past three seasons.

Devils are 12-30 after an over their previous game.

Stars are 8-2 this season after scoring three goals or more at home their previous game.

Stars are 16-9 this season after allowing four goals or more the previous game.

Devils:

Yegor Sharangovich -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt

Tomas Tatar -- Pavel Zacha -- Dawson Mercer

Janne Kuokkanen -- Jesper Boqvist -- Fabian Zetterlund

A.J. Greer -- Michael McLeod -- Andreas Johnsson

Colton White -- Damon Severson

Ryan Graves -- Dougie Hamilton

Ty Smith -- P.K. Subban

Andrew Hammond

Stars:

Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Marian Studenic

Joel Kiviranta -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Alexander Radulov

Michael Raffl -- Radek Faksa -- Luke Glendening

Ryan Suter -- Miro Heiskanen

Joel Hanley -- John Klingberg

Thomas Harley -- Jani Hakanpaa

Jake Oettinger

Points: Jesper Bratt -- 67

Goals: Jack Hughes -- 26

Assists: Jesper Bratt -- 44

Goalie: Mackenzie Blackwood -- 9-9-3, 3.29 GAA, .894 SV%

Points: Joe Pavelski -- 70

Goals: Jason Robertson -- 32

Assists: Joe Pavelski -- 44

Goalie: Jake Oettinger -- 25-12-1, 2.48 GAA, .916 SV%