Can the Stars Defy Expectations and Overcome Columbus in a High-Stakes Showdown?

You ever notice how sports betting can feel like trying to predict the weather in a hurricane? That’s where I’m at with hockey right now—my record’s been so awful it could make a goalie cry. But hey, baseball’s still a ways off, so here we are again, diving into this Stars vs. Blue Jackets showdown with more hope than accuracy. The Stars, despite a bit of a hiccup losing three of five, rank pretty high with a solid 28-13-9, boasting a surprisingly stingy goalie in Casey DeSmith who’s been a rock on the road. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets are scrappy, riding a recent hot streak but vulnerable at home. It’s one of those nail-biters where I’m leaning on the Stars to tip the scales, even if my track record screams “go the other way.” You wanna trust a guy who’s been that wrong? Maybe not—but isn’t that what makes the game so darn enticing? LEARN MORE.

Stars vs. Blue Jackets, 7:00 ET

I’ll start this by telling you that my hockey record for Outkick is abysmal. But, until baseball season is here, you’re going to get at least a few hockey plays a month. I want to get better at this, but this season has been terrible. With that said, feel free to fade me. If I were in your shoes, I would probably just look at my play and go opposite without even thinking about it – I’ve been that bad. Still, I have confidence that I can turn it around, and I plan to do that here as the Stars take on the Blue Jackets.

The Stars are one of the better teams in the league with a 28-13-9 record. They’ve had mostly tight games on the road, considering that they are showing a 15-6-6 record for the year. Currently, the team hasn’t played great, losing three of their past five games. The offense finally seems to have broken out of a mini-slump as they found the net six times in their most recent game against the Bruins. For the season, they are averaging 3.32 goals per game while allowing 2.76. I always find it fascinating that they have that big of a gap, but they have two more shots allowed per game than they are taking. In the three losses the Stars have had over their past five games, they only scored one goal. Casey DeSmith will mind the net tonight for the Stars, and he has had a very strong season. He is 10-3-5 for the year with a .911 save percentage and 2.46 goals against for the year. His goals against and save percentage are both top-15. Interestingly enough, he is 6-1-5 on the road this season. He isn’t losing outright in a lot of these games, but the team is still losing.

The Blue Jackets are decent as well, and have put together a good start to the year, but will likely need to improve if they want a true chance at the playoffs. For the year, Columbus is 22-20-7, but they haven’t found much success at home, either. They are 11-8-4 on their home ice this year. In terms of current form, you have to give that edge to the Blue Jackets who are 4-1 over their past five games. They dropped their last game against the Senators on Tuesday, losing 4-1. Prior to that, they had scored three or more goals in each of the four wins. They are scoring about three goals per game on offense, but allowing 3.33 goals against. The team is going to have Jet Greaves in the pipes tonight to try and slow down this Stars offense. Greaves is 14-12-6 for the season with a 2.70 goals against per game average. He is also sporting a .908 save percentage. He was not in the net the first time the two teams squared off.

This is a game that I see being a bit of a toss-up. I’d think that the Stars would win this game seven or eight out of ten times, but then you start factoring in travel, goalies, current form, and a variety of variables. I really like the way that DeSmith has been playing this season. Greaves has nice numbers as well, but I think the Stars have the edge here. I also think they are the better team and we are getting them at a reasonable price. I’ll back the Stars to win on the moneyline.

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