Canucks vs Stars Matchup Stats: Back the Underdog and Bet ‘Over’
If We’re Going by Some Recent Matchup Trends

Vancouver Edges Dallas Despite the NHL Odds
The Vancouver Canucks visit the Dallas Stars in a heavyweight showdown this Thursday. They are the fifth and sixth-best teams in the NHL by point percentages. But while both have been prolific for betting purposes, digging deeper using the Canucks vs Stars matchup stats reveals the best plays: Vancouver on the moneyline and the total to go ‘over’. Let’s examine what Vancouver’s edge over Dallas is.
Vancouver Canucks (22-9-2) vs Dallas Stars (18-8-4)
Date, time:
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
Canucks Cashing Cheques
If you predicted Vancouver to be this good before the season, you’d best have bet on each of its games. Vancouver is profitable on the NHL hockey lines: 12-4 as a favorite and 9-8 as an underdog. As a visitor, Vancouver is also 10-7 and 11-6 on the puck line. Credit that to the team’s many strengths.
The Canucks are scoring over 3.6 goals per road game and have a 26.9% power-play conversion rate. These are the top five stats. And if you couple a top-10 defense and sharp goaltending, we can see why Vancouver has evolved into the best Canadian team this season.
“It’s great. Patrik (Allvin) made an unreal trade getting him,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said about Casey DeSmith following his 28-save performance in a 5-2 Vancouver win over Nashville. “He stops the puck, he’s great, but I think he’s one of the most well-liked guys in the room.”
Vancouver has great things going now, so it is a solid choice as a +120 underdog in Dallas. The Canucks already beat the Stars 2-0 in their first meeting. This marked Vancouver’s seventh straight win against Dallas. And heading to the Stars’ home, the Canucks are 4-1 in their last five visits.
The Canucks vs Stars matchup stats further reveal how effective Vancouver is when it comes to scoring or shutting Dallas down. Vancouver scored 3+ goals in six of its last seven games. And it also held Dallas to two goals or fewer in five of the previous six. This second metric is key.
Dallas is just 2-7 (2-5-2) when it fails to score more than two goals. And five of these games happened in its arena.
Stars Struggle at Home Thanks to Lackluster Defense
For the Stars, scoring at home has typically not been an issue. Dallas averages 3.8 goals on just 30.8 shots. This red-hot offense is why Dallas is 9-6 at home and why the totals have gone over in 11 of its 15 games. Part of this is also due to the poor defense or goaltending.
Dallas allows over 3.5 goals per home game. This is ranked 28th among hosts. As a result, Dallas is just 4-11 on the puck line. It struggles to put opponents away because it is giving up nearly as many goals and shots (30) despite its solid penalty kill (84.3%).
Jake Oettinger, Dallas’s primary netminder, has labored at home. He has unflattering averages of 87.7% save percentage (SV%) and a 3.45 goals-against average. Scott Wedgewood is a bit better with a 90.7% SV%, though he’s still letting in over three goals on average.
Going against Vancouver’s goaltenders, who lead the West with a 91.9% SV%, the Canucks vs Stars matchup stats put Dallas in a poor light here. One might argue Dallas should be the underdog on the NHL odds.
Backing Dallas could be a tough ask. Instead, bet online on the total to go over 6.5 at even odds. Dallas’s goaltending issues, coupled with its potent offense, have led to 11 of its 15 home games going over the total. It has trended the same way in six of Dallas’s last nine games versus Vancouver. This could be the best play for NHL picks and parlays.