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Newark, New Jersey – Mike Modano and the Dallas Stars just took Manhattan. Now they’ll try to take their show across the river.
Dallas looks to build off Modano’s game-winning goal at Madison Square Garden when it faces a New Jersey Devils club returning home Wednesday after a successful road trip.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made New Jersey -145 money line favorites (NHL Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 5.5 goals (Game Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 67% of bets for this game have been placed on New Jersey -145 (View NHL Bet Percentages).
In Sean Avery’s much-hyped return to New York, it was Modano who made headlines in Monday’s 2-1 win against the Rangers as his 87th career game-winner snapped the Stars’ two-game losing streak.
"It was a lucky bounce," said Modano, 29th on the NHL all-time goals list with 531. "Those don’t get old. It still gives you the idea that you can still hang around the players and play the game. I’ll stick around a little longer maybe."
Modano has three goals and three assists this season to tie Brad Richards for the team lead in scoring.
Brenden Morrow had a power-play goal Monday for the Stars (2-3-1), giving him a point in five of the first six games.
"We kept working on making things go our way, and finally it did tonight," Morrow told the team’s official Web site. "We just found a way to keep pushing and win the game."
Marty Turco made 28 saves and blanked the Rangers after Markus Naslund scored 58 seconds into the game. Turco had a 4.70 goals-against average during Dallas’ 1-3-1 start.
"Turco was solid tonight, and that’s what we’ve been looking for from him," Dallas coach Dave Tippet said.
After registering only six goals in its first four games, New Jersey (4-1-0) scored a season high in a 4-3 shootout win at Washington on Saturday to finish 3-1-0 on its trip.
Petr Vrana had the Devils’ first goal in his NHL debut, and Zach Parise and Andy Greene also scored. Parise, who has a team-high five points, scored the lone goal in the shootout.
"It’s a good sign we can score goals when we have to," said Patrik Elias, who had two assists, the first – his 365th – moving him past Scott Niedermayer for first on the team’s all-time list.
If Martin Brodeur continues at this pace – a 1.56 GAA in five starts – the Stars could have a hard time scoring. Brodeur had 24 saves against the Capitals, including stops against Michael Nylander, Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin in the shootout.
Bobby Holik broke his pinkie Saturday and will be out three to four weeks. He was scheduled for surgery Tuesday, according to Devils general manager and president Lou Lamoriello. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was recalled from Lowell of the AHL to replace Holik.
Lamoriello also said that an MRI and X-rays on Brian Rolston’s sprained ankle were negative. Rolston was hurt in Thursday’s 1-0 win at Atlanta.
"The guys that are playing just have to do the job for you," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "You go through it at different points in the year; every team does. The teams that handle it the right way and deal with it the right way are always the ones that seem to get through it the best."
New Jersey is 5-2-0 against Dallas since defeating the Stars in six games in the 2000 Stanley Cup finals.
Top Betting Trends:
All games in this series since 1996
NEW JERSEY is 11-9 (+1.4 Units) against the spread versus DALLAS since 1996
NEW JERSEY is 11-9-0 straight up against DALLAS since 1996
10 of 16 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL since 1996. (Under=+3.1 Units)
Games over the last 3 seasons
NEW JERSEY is 1-1 (+0.0 Units) against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
NEW JERSEY is 1-1-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.1 Units)
All games played at NEW JERSEY since 1996
DALLAS is 5-4 (+1.9 Units) against the spread versus NEW JERSEY since 1996
DALLAS is 5-4-0 straight up against NEW JERSEY since 1996
5 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL since 1996. (Over=+3.0 Units)
Games played at NEW JERSEY over the last 3 seasons.
NEW JERSEY is 1-0 (+1.0 Units) against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
NEW JERSEY is 1-0-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
1 of 1 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.1 Units)
Key Player Injuries
DALLAS
[F] Jere Lehtinen is "?" Friday vs. Columbus – Groin – 10/08/08
[D] Sergei Zubov is out indefinitely – Hip – 10/08/08
NEW JERSEY
No significant injuries.
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Posted: 10/22/08 12:52 AM
