{"id":458764,"date":"2024-12-18T08:21:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T13:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=458764"},"modified":"2024-12-18T04:43:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T09:43:29","slug":"nhl-predictions-december-18th-dallas-stars-vs-toronto-maple-leafs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/12\/18\/nhl-predictions-december-18th-dallas-stars-vs-toronto-maple-leafs\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions December 18th Dallas Stars vs. Toronto Maple Leafs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the latest edition of NHL Predictions. Each day, our team here at Last Word on Hockey<\/em> breaks down head-to-head matchups and other key elements that may influence the outcome of each game. This edition of NHL Predictions article analyzes the Wednesday, December 18th, 2024 matchup between the Dallas Stars<\/a> and the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

Dallas Stars vs. Toronto Maple Leafs<\/h2>\n

Time:<\/strong> 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong> Victory+; ESPN+; Sportsnet<\/p>\n

This will be the first of two matchups between Dallas and Toronto this season, with Dallas making the return trip to Toronto on January 14th, 2025.<\/p>\n

The teams enter Wednesday night with similar season records but find themselves in different situations in their respective divisions. Toronto (19-10-2) is tied with the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division<\/a> standings. Dallas (19-11-0) trails the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets and the Minnesota Wild in the Central Division.<\/p>\n

Toronto<\/a> has won its last six meetings with the Stars, winning four games in regulation and two in overtime. The Maple Leafs have scored at least three goals in each meeting, and the regulation wins have not even been close. Can Dallas stop the drought this time around?<\/p>\n

Dallas Stars Story<\/h3>\n

The Stars are in the middle of a six-game homestand, posting a 3-1-0 record through the first four. Despite battling through player absences due to the flu, Dallas<\/a> has won two in a row and played one of its best games of the season in a 3-1 win over the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Forward<\/a> Roope Hintz<\/a> has broken out of an early slump with four goals this month, including two in the most recent win. Rookie defenceman Lian Bichsel<\/a> has also stepped up seamlessly, scoring twice in his first three NHL games. However, the Stars’ defensive depth has been challenged by the flu as Thomas Harley<\/a> missed the Washington game, and Nils Lundkvist<\/a> left Monday’s game early after missing Saturday’s win over St. Louis.<\/p>\n

That left the Stars with just four defencemen, forcing them all to play extended minutes. Esa Lindell<\/a> drew the brunt of the work, amassing 22:31 of ice time. Head coach Pete DeBoer believes Lindell and Miro Heiskanen<\/a> have played well enough to handle that workload but would obviously prefer to have a full allotment of six defencemen available.<\/p>\n

Toronto Maple Leafs Story<\/h3>\n

Much like Dallas, Toronto has an impressive home record but has played poorly on the road. The Maple Leafs are 5-6-2 in away games this season and last won on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 30th. \u00a0However, they have plenty of offensive firepower to compete with any team on any given night. Forward Auston Matthews<\/a> gets most of the attention from fans across the league. Yet, Mitch Marner<\/a> ranks ninth in the NHL with 41 points, and William Nylander<\/a> ranked fifth in goals.<\/p>\n

Then, when you think you’ve stopped those guys, Toronto hits you with another scoring wave. It put up five goals in a win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, including a hat trick from John\u00a0 Tavares. Overall, four players have scored at least 10 goals for Toronto this season.<\/p>\n

Plus, its defence and goaltending have been among the best in the league. Both Anthony Solarz and Joseph Woll<\/a> are among the NHL’s leaders in goals-against and save percentage. Stolarz<\/a> is out with an injury, so Woll will likely get the call.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions Stars and Leafs<\/h3>\n

The Stars have started to find a grove and play up to pre-season expectations. They also have a distinct advantage on home ice. However, each impressive game for Dallas has been followed by an equal disappointment. The Maple Leafs have the offensive lineup to challenge the Stars on the backend, and the goaltending that can make scoring chances scarce. Because of that and the recent history between these two clubs, it’s difficult to see this not going Toronto’s way.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Maple Leafs win 4-1<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bets of the Night<\/h3>\n

Dallas’ Jason Robertson<\/a> (+275) has scored twice in the last four games. Forward Mason Marchment<\/a> (+275 anytime goal), who began his career with Toronto, has a point in his last two games against his former team. A Marner (+250) anytime goal is also intriguing.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron – USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the latest edition of NHL Predictions. Each day, our team here at Last Word on Hockey breaks down head-to-head matchups and other key elements that may influence the outcome of each game. This edition of NHL Predictions article analyzes the Wednesday, December 18th, 2024 matchup between the Dallas Stars and the Toronto Maple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5167,"featured_media":137166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,4547,4548,4524,18],"tags":[228,6124,1402,7306,229,3281,2168,3797,6062],"class_list":["post-458764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stars","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","category-leafs","tag-auston-matthews","tag-dallas-stars-predictions","tag-esa-lindell","tag-lian-bichsel","tag-mitch-marner","tag-nils-lundkvist","tag-roope-hintz","tag-thomas-harley","tag-toronto-maple-leafs-predictions"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458764"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":458809,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458764\/revisions\/458809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}