Vegas Golden Knights vs Dallas Stars, Game 1 Best Bets: April 22nd, 2024

The Vegas Golden Knights begin their quest to lift a second straight Stanley Cup tonight in Texas as they face the #1 seed in the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars.

Dallas ran away with the Central Division, but were unable to beat the Knights once this season. Vegas won the regular season series 3-0, winning once by shootout, once in overtime, and lastly handling business 6-1 in Dallas.

Now, all of these games happened before the calendar turned to 2024. Vegas won 3-2 in a shootout in Vegas on October 17th, the Knights won 2-1 in overtime in Dallas in late November, and then in early December, the Knights blew out the Stars in Dallas. Plenty has changed since then, but do the Stars have what it takes tonight?

The defending Stanley Cup Champions just snuck their way into the NHL Playoffs this year, but they have all of the talent to repeat. Can they steal Game 1 from the Stars in Dallas?

Let’s take a dive into this game and find our best bets.

Vegas Travels to Dallas for Game 1

Matchup Information – Golden Knights vs Stars

• Venue & Location: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)
• Date: Monday, April 22nd, 2024
• Puck Drop: 9:30pm Eastern
• Where to Watch: ESPN

Betting Odds, courtesy of BetOnline

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Puck Line

• Golden Knights +1.5 (-215)
• Stars -1.5 (+185)

Money Line

• Golden Knights +123
• Stars -138

Total

• Over 5.5 (-116)
• Under 5.5 (+100)

Will Golden Knights Repeat as Stanley Cup Champions?

As stated, the Knights swept the Stars in the regular season series, but that was over 4 months ago, and it took everything they had to squeak out three wins. Strictly looking at the talent between these two teams, I’ve got to side with the Golden Knights.

Vegas has a much deeper team than the Stars, and I ultimately trust the team with much more playoff experience as well. In terms of goaltending, these teams are about even all around, other than the fact that the Knights have an extra goaltender who is just as good.

Logan Thompson and Adin Hill patrol the net for the Knights, and they both average 2.7 Goals Against/Game, which ranks 17th and 18th in the league. Jake Oettinger of the Stars is right behind them at 2.72, ranking 19th.

When it comes to save percentage, VGK is slightly ahead of Dallas. Thompson and Hill both post a .909 Save Percentage, while Oettinger drops down to .905. I’ll admit, not much of a difference, but if the Stars have to put Scott Wedgewood between the posts, things could get ugly this series.

Regardless, as far as the game goes tonight, with the Knights beating the Stars in four straight games, I will be sitting out on betting a side. However, I do have a player prop that I absolutely love.

Vegas Golden Knights vs Dallas Stars Best Player Prop Bets

Best Bet: Jonathan Marchessault Over 0.5 Point (-124) BetOnline

For the odds being presented at BetOnline, I had to jump on this player prop. This market is listed around -135, so for nearly 11 cents of value, I’ll take Marchessault to get us a point.

Not only does the man have a point in 56% of games this season, but he absolutely comes alive in the playoffs. In his career, he has 72 total points in 95 playoff games, but let’s take a deep dive into last season.

Marchessault had 25 points in just 22 games as the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup last season. He had multiple points in 7 of those games, plus he ended the playoffs on a 10 game postseason point streak. In the Western Conference Finals against the Stars last season, Marchessault had 7 points in just 6 games, recording at least 1 point in 6 of those 7 games.

Marchessault just had 1 point in 3 games against the Stars this season, but in the playoffs he is a different animal. Give me a point from the man tonight.

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