In their second head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the St. Louis Blues and the San Jose Sharks meet at the SAP Center for a Western Conference showdown. The match gets started at 10:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 8 and it is being televised live on NBC Sports California.
St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks Odds
San Jose comes into the game as the heavy favorite with a -150 moneyline. The line for St. Louis sits at +130, and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 6 goals (-120 for the under, +100 for the over).
Producing 2.3 units for moneyline bettors, the Sharks are 35-31 straight up (SU) overall in the 2017-18 season. That winning percentage, ranked third in the Pacific Division so far this season, isn’t too far off from to what the team produced during the 2016-17 season (46-36). Through 66 regular season matches, 38 of its games have gone under the total, while 26 have gone over and just two have pushed. The team is 19-13 SU at home this season.
San Jose’s converted on 21.0 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked first overall, and it’s successfully killed off 84.7 percent of all penalties.
As a team, San Jose has been penalized just 3.4 times per game overall this season, and 1.4 per game over its last five outings at home. The team has been forced to stave off opposition power plays for just 4.0 minutes per game over its last 10 outings, overall.
Averaging 26.2 saves per game with a .916 save percentage, Martin Jones (22 wins, 24 losses, and seven OT losses) has been the top goalkeeper for the Sharks this season. If head coach Peter Deboer chooses to rest him, however, the team may turn to Aaron Dell (14-12-12 record, .914 save percentage, 2.65 goals against average).
Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns will both lead the charge for the Sharks. Pavelski (53 points) has tallied 18 goals and 35 assists and has recorded multiple points 11 times this year. Burns has 10 goals and 42 assists to his credit and has recorded a point in 37 contests.
Over on the other bench, St. Louis is 35-31 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.6 units for moneyline bettors this year. A total of 40 of its outings have gone under the total, while 25 have gone over and just one has pushed. St. Louis’ 15-17 SU as an away team this season.
St. Louis has converted on just 15.5 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that places it in the bottom- overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 14th overall and it’s successfully killed off 81.4 percent of all penalties.
St. Louis’ skaters have been called for penalties 3.5 times per game this season, and 4.2 per game over their last five games. The team has had to kill penalties 10.8 minutes per contest over their last five road games.
Jake Allen (.904 save percentage and 2.83 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for St. Louis. Allen is averaging 24.8 saves per game and has 19 wins, 25 losses, and two OT losses to his credit.
Brayden Schenn (24 goals, 33 assists) and Vladimir Tarasenko (26 goals, 30 assists) are the top point-getters for St. Louis and will lead the offensive counter for the visiting Blues.
St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks Free Picks
Prediction: SU Winner – Sharks, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- The over has hit in three of San Jose’s last five games.
- This game features two offenses that force a heavy amount of shots on goal. St. Louis has taken the league’s ninth-most shots on goal (32.9) and San Jose has attempted the ninth-most (33.0).
- The Blues are 16-12 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 25-19 in games where they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total.”,
- San Jose is 4-3 in games decided by a shootout this season while St. Louis is 3-0 in shootouts.
- San Jose is ranked 6th in the NHL this season with 8.8 takeaways per game. That figure has trended lower lately, however, as the team has created 6.5 takeaways over its last 10 games and 5.4 takeaways over its last five.
- St. Louis is ranked 13th in the NHL with 7.7 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down, however, as it has managed 6.2 takeaways over its last 10 games and 6.0 takeaways over its last five.
