{"id":390279,"date":"2026-01-04T14:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/390279\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T14:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:14:11","slug":"nhl-predictions-jan-4-montreal-canadiens-vs-dallas-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/390279\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Jan 4 Montreal Canadiens vs Dallas Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0Last Word on Hockey look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the Montreal Canadiens taking on the Dallas Stars. Don\u2019t forget to check out more NHL Predictions<\/a>, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions
\nMontreal Canadiens vs Dallas Stars
\nHead-to-Head: Canadiens 0-1 Stars<\/p>\n

How to Watch<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Canada TV: TSN2; RDS<\/p>\n

Time: 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n

We open up<\/a> NHL predictions with our featured game between the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> and the Dallas Stars<\/a>. Jakub Dobes<\/a> is the expected starter after Jacob Fowler<\/a> got the call in the loss to the St Louis Blues<\/a>. However, always check social media before locking in a daily fantasy starter. Montreal is 6-1-3 in its previous 10 games but was shutout by St Louis on Saturday. Nick Suzuki<\/a> leads the team in assists (31) and points (45) so far this campaign.<\/p>\n

Jake Oettinger<\/a> is the likely starter for Stars, who got a 7-0 shutout of the Habs on November 13. Dallas comes into this game with a 4-4-2 mark in its previous 10 games. However, the Stars have dropped three consecutive games prior to this matchup. Dallas is a top five team in goals scored (3.48, second) and goals allowed (2.68, fifth). Mikko Rantanen<\/a> leads the way with 40 assists and 56 points.<\/p>\n

Dallas will be rested, and Montreal is coming off a 2-0 loss to St Louis. The hosts should get the win.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Stars win 4-2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0Last Word on Hockey look at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5117],"tags":[1775,1314,196,147,1315,5278,1316,5,1776,1777,4,197],"class_list":["post-390279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-stars","tag-carolina-hurricanes-predictions","tag-colorado-avalanche-predictions","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-stars","tag-dallas-stars-predictions","tag-dallasstars","tag-florida-panthers-predictions","tag-hockey","tag-montreal-canadiens-predictions","tag-new-jersey-devils-predictions","tag-nhl","tag-stars"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115837250329325560","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}