A couple of teams riding winning streaks, the St. Louis Blues and the San Jose Sharks face off at the SAP Center. This Western Conference matchup gets started at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 9 and it can be watched live on NBC Sports California.
St. Louis Blues vs. San Jose Sharks Odds
San Jose (-150) is tabbed as the favorite over St. Louis (+130), and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. If gamblers want to put some action on this matchup’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -105 money on the over and -115 on the under.
The Sharks are 40-27 straight up (SU) and have earned moneyline bettors 0.3 units this year. That winning percentage, ranked fifth in the NHL in this young season, isn’t too far off from to the 45-37 record the team managed during the 2017-18 season campaign. Through 67 regular season outings, 39 of the team’s games have gone over the total, while 26 have gone under and just two have pushed. This year, the team is 22-10 SU at home.
San Jose has been able to convert on 25.3 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s good enough for sixth-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked seventh overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.8 percent of all penalties.
As a team, San Jose has been penalized 3.6 times per game overall this season, 3.4 per game over its last five matchups total, and 3.4 per game over its last five home outings. The team’s had to kill penalties for just 8.0 minutes per contest over its last five home games.
With a .898 save percentage and 25.1 saves per game, Martin Jones (33-18-5) has been the principal option in goal for the Sharks this year. If they, however, decide to give him a rest, San Jose may turn to Aaron Dell (9-11-11 record, .892 save percentage, 3.01 goals against average).
The Sharks will continue relying on offensive production from Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski. Burns (73 points) has tallied 13 goals and 60 assists and has recorded multiple points 21 times this year. Pavelski has 36 goals and 25 assists to his credit and has recorded at least one point in 38 contests.
St. Louis has earned 4.0 units for moneyline bettors this season and is currently 36-31 straight up (SU). Through 67 regular season contests, 36 of its games have gone under the total, while 27 have gone over and just four have pushed. As an away team, St. Louis is 19-15 SU.
St. Louis has converted on 19.4 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 11th overall and it’s successfully killed off 81.1 percent of all penalties.
St. Louis’ skaters have been penalized 3.6 times per game this season, and 2.8 per game over their past ten games. The team’s been forced to defend opponent power plays just 6.1 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jake Allen (.903 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average) has been the main option in goal for St. Louis. Allen is averaging 24.8 saves per game and has 18 wins, 23 losses, and five OT losses to his credit.
For the visiting Blues, the offense will run through Ryan O’Reilly (26 goals, 40 assists) and Vladimir Tarasenko (28 goals, 30 assists).
St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks Free Picks
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Sharks, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- For both of these clubs, the over has hit in three of their last five matchups.
- Penalties and power plays could play a critical role in this matchup. The Blues are 19-15 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 25-19 in games where they’re in the box for fewer than 10 penalty minutes, total. The Sharks are 19-10 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 29-17 in games where total penalty minutes are in the single digits.
- San Jose is 0-3 in games decided by a shootout this season while St. Louis is 1-1 in shootouts.
- San Jose is ranked 6th overall this season with 9.0 takeaways per game. That figure has trended upward recently, as it has averaged 9.5 takeaways over its last 10 games and 10.0 takeaways over its last five.
- St. Louis has created 7.0 takeaways per game over its last five road games, a drop-off from its season average of 8.1 takeaways per game (ranked 10th in the league).
- San Jose might hold the upper hand if this one comes down to the wire. The team’s 14-11 in games decided by one goal, while St. Louis is 12-14 in such games.
