Vegas Golden Knights (45-29-8, fourth in the Pacific Division) vs. Dallas Stars (52-21-9, first in the Central Division)
Dallas; Monday, 9:30 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Stars -135, Golden Knights +115; over/under is 5.5
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Stars host series opener
BOTTOM LINE: The Dallas Stars host the Vegas Golden Knights to begin the Western Conference first round. The teams meet Saturday for the fourth time this season. The Golden Knights went 3-0 against the Stars in the regular season. In their last regular season matchup on Dec. 9, the Golden Knights won 6-1.
Dallas is 26-11-4 at home and 52-21-9 overall. The Stars rank third in the league with 294 total goals (averaging 3.6 per game).
Vegas has an 18-17-6 record in road games and a 45-29-8 record overall. The Golden Knights have gone 39-10-6 in games they score at least three goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jason Robertson has 28 goals and 52 assists for the Stars. Wyatt Johnston has scored six goals and added five assists over the past 10 games.
Jack Eichel has 31 goals and 37 assists for the Golden Knights. William Karlsson has five goals and six assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Stars: 8-2-0, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.6 assists, 2.9 penalties and 6.9 penalty minutes while giving up 1.7 goals per game.
Golden Knights: 6-4-0, averaging 3.5 goals, 5.9 assists, 2.8 penalties and 7.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.
INJURIES: Stars: Jani Hakanpaa: out (lower body).
Golden Knights: Alex Pietrangelo: day to day (illness), Mark Stone: out (upper body), William Carrier: out (upper-body).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
