Stars vs. Golden Knights Pick and Prediction – May 3, 2024

STARS VS. GOLDEN KNIGHTS EXPERT PICK AND PREDICTION – May 3, 2024 — After two games in Dallas, it looked like the Golden Knights had things figured out and had a chokehold on this series. Now, things couldn’t look more different as the teams head back to Nevada.

Vegas knows it’s still capable of winning the series, but the Knights have given away so much in the past few games. They gave away the home-ice advantage in failing to earn even a split in Sin City. They’ve given away the past two games on poor penalties that the Stars turned into goals. And now they’ve got to find a way to beat the Western Conference’s best team twice to advance to the second round.

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While the Knights have squandered their edge, the Stars have gotten off the mat. Vegas has had chance after chance to slam the door on Dallas, but each time, let the Stars get their legs under them. Dallas now looks like the team that dominated the regular season and won one of the toughest divisions in the NHL. And if the Stars keep playing like this, not only will they win this series, but they’re a serious contender for the Cup.

The remainder of this series will come down to who makes fewer mistakes. So far, that’s been Dallas. If that doesn’t change, the Golden Knights won’t be defending their title for much longer.

The Odds

Puck Drop

When: Friday, May 3 at 10 p.m. EST

Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

TV: TNT

Public Bets: 68% on Dallas

Public Money: 56% on Dallas

Odds courtesy of DraftKings, as of May 1st, 2024

Stars vs. Golden Knights In-Season Trends

There hasn’t been much of anything to separate these teams for the first 40 minutes. The Stars emerged victorious because of Jake Oettinger’s heroics in the third period, which has been where Vegas hasn’t been up to snuff. The Golden Knights have just one goal after the second period in the entire series. Granted, Dallas hasn’t been putting up huge numbers in the final period either; the Stars have three goals in the third period or overtime to their name.

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With how this series has gone, this is one to live bet on the total. Instead of backing the total too early, you might want to wait until the first or even second intermission to see how the game is flowing. Vegas has been fading in the third period, so a high-scoring first period could turn into a grinder of a third.

Players to Watch

Alex Pietrangelo must be better. He’s almost single-handedly given away the past two games for Vegas, as it was his mistakes that gave Dallas the power plays the Stars needed to swing the game away from the Knights. In Game 4, his penalty led to the game-tying goal, and his mistake in Game 5 gave Dallas the power play that became the game winner in the second period.

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Jason Robertson pounced on Pietrangelo’s mistake for Dallas, and he’s done a fine job all series long for the Stars. He has three goals in the series and five points overall. However, he has not scored a goal in Nevada, getting just one point at T-Mobile Arena. It might be better to back him for a point rather than a goal, or even to go under his total.

The Pick

With how evenly played this series has been, it feels like Vegas has one more strong game left in it. The Golden Knights haven’t been a step behind the Stars in the past three games; they’ve just made one more mistake than Dallas.

This is a veteran team that knows how to bounce back and isn’t giving this up without a fight. The Golden Knights should emerge victorious and force this back to Texas.