The SAP Center will be the site for an enticing showdown as the San Jose Sharks square off against the visiting Minnesota Wild. Fox Sports North will showcase this Western Conference matchup, which gets going at 10:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 7.
Minnesota Wild at San Jose Sharks Odds
Minnesota (+135) is playing the role of underdog to San Jose (-155) and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. If you want to play the matchup’s total, you’ll be looking at odds of -115 for the over and -105 for the under.
Losing 8.3 units for moneyline bettors, the Sharks are 5-11 straight up (SU) overall this year. That early-season winning percentage is a regression from the 46-36 record that the team posted during last year’s regular season campaign. Out of its 16 regular season outings, eight of them have gone under the total, while seven have gone over and just one has pushed. Thus far, the team is 3-4 SU at home.
San Jose has converted on 20.8 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 90.2 percent of all penalties.
As a team, San Jose has been penalized 4.6 times per game overall this season, and 3.4 per game over its last five matchups home outings. The team has been forced to kill penalties for a whopping 16.6 minutes per game over its last five matchups, overall.
Averaging 24.6 saves per game with a .889 save percentage, Martin Jones (3-9-1) has been the top option in goal for the Sharks this season. If they choose to rest him, however, the team might turn to Aaron Dell (2-4-4 record, .878 save percentage, 3.83 goals against average).
The Sharks will continue relying on leadership from Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl. Burns (14 points) has tallied three goals and 11 assists and has recorded multiple points four times this year. Hertl has five goals and nine assists to his credit and has recorded at least one point in seven contests.
On the other side of the ice, Minnesota is 5-10 straight up (SU) and has lost 5.6 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Eight of its games have gone over the total, while five have gone under the total and just two have pushed. As a road team, Minnesota is 2-8 SU so far.
Minnesota has converted on 18.4 percent of its power play chances this year, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 14th overall and it’s successfully killed off 83.0 percent of all penalties.
Minnesota’s players have been called for penalties 3.7 times per game this season, a number that’s pretty close to the 3.5 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.0 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to kill penalties for 7.5 minutes per matchup this year.
Devan Dubnyk (.883 save percentage and 3.68 goals against average) has been the main option in goal for Minnesota. Dubnyk is averaging 24.2 saves per game and owns a 2-7-1 record.
Leading the offensive push for the visiting Wild will be Eric Staal (five goals, six assists) and Jason Zucker (four goals, five assists).
Minnesota Wild at San Jose Sharks Free Picks
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner – Sharks, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- The over has hit in four of Minnesota’s last five games.
- Minnesota has managed 25.4 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while San Jose is averaging 33.0 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- The Sharks are 1-4 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 5-7 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
- Both teams have yet to participate in a shootout this year.
- San Jose skaters have forced 10.8 takeaways per game over its last five home games, an improvement over its season average of 8.4 takeaways per game (ranked 6th overall).
