Tampa Bay Lightning vs Dallas Stars Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 01/18/26

The Tampa Bay Lightning will take on the Dallas Stars Sunday afternoon. The Lightning currently rank 2^nd in the Eastern Conference while the Stars rank 2^nd in the Western Conference. The Stars come into this one losing 8 of their last 10 games overall. Through those 10 games, they have only managed to score 26 goals. Contributing to this low scoring could be the fact that the Stars rank 26^th in the NHL in shots this season. They are only averaging 25.3 shots per game while giving up 27.9 shots per game. These offensive struggles could prove to be the deciding factor in this one.

For the Lightning, they come into this one winning 9 of their last 10 games overall. Through those 10 games, they have scored 45 goals while giving up just 24 goals. This defensive play from the Lightning has been present all year. They rank 4^th in save percentage this season while only giving up 26.3 shots per game. While the defensive play has been impressive, they have also been fantastic on offense. They currently rank 2^nd averaging 3.48 goals per game while averaging 27.5 shots per game. Overall, the Lightning are in better form while having an elite level defense which could cause the stars some trouble. The Lightning also have a +38 goal differential through 25 away games. I am taking the Lightning on the money line.

Lightning vs. Stars Prediction: Lightning ML (-110) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.