Pacific Division rivals meet on Wednesday, October 12th as the Los Angeles Kings visit the San Jose Sharks in a game that can be seen on NBCSN. These teams met last season in the playoffs and it was the Sharks taking out the Kings in five games. San Jose is coming off their best season in team history as they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to Pittsburgh and the Sharks proved they are now the team to beat in California; not the Kings.
Odds Analysis
The Sharks will be small home favorites in this contest with the total listed at 5. Four of the five games in last year’s playoff series were decided by a single goal with two games going over, two going under, with one push.
The time is now to bet NHL futures at BookMaker.eu and both the Kings and Sharks are listed at odds of 18/1 to win the Stanley Cup. The Kings are listed at +230 to win the Pacific Division while the Sharks are +250.
Goalie Report
The Kings have Jonathan Quick who went 40-23-5 with a .918 save percentage last season. While those numbers are good, they are not great and the Kings have a hard time winning if Quick isn’t great because Los Angeles doesn’t score many goals. Quick didn’t look that great in the World Cup of Hockey so there are concerns heading into this season about his play. And Los Angeles doesn’t have a proven backup as Jeff Zatkoff has just 35 games of NHL experience.
The Sharks got outstanding goaltending from Martin Jones last season as he proved he was more than capable of being a starting NHL goaltender. Jones won 37 games and finished with a 2.27 goals against average. He was spectacular in the Stanley Cup Finals and he was one of the few players who actually showed up against the Penguins.
Situational Betting
The Kings have not played well on the road of late going just 2-6 in their last 8 games. The Sharks are 8-3 in their last 11 home games. The Kings are just 17-35 in the last 52 meetings in San Jose.
The Kings have gone over in five of their last eleven road games with four pushes while the Sharks have gone under in five of their last six games. Five of the last eleven in this series have gone over with two games going under with four pushes.
Analysis & Prediction
The Kings made a number of moves in the off-season but it is hard to see how any of them will make them better. It doesn’t help that the Kings will be without Marian Gaborik who was injured during the World Cup of Hockey. The Kings also stripped Dustin Brown of the captaincy and gave it to Anze Kopitar and that doesn’t inspire any confidence.
The Sharks went out and added Mikkel Boedker and David Schlemko to improve their team speed. If Boeker can provide some secondary scoring the Sharks could be improved this season as they have solid scorers already in Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture.
The Kings can only win if they play a tight, defensive style of hockey, especially on the road. I will take this game under the total.
San Jose 2 Los Angeles 1
The NHL odds for this Wednesday contest will be released first by BookMaker. Since this game can be seen by anyone with a TV, BookMaker will have a multitude of wagering options available for it. Outside of the normal lines, you can gamble on real-time odds and player props during the game. Live betting is open during every commercial break!
The matchup between the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks will start at 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, atSAPCenterinSan Jose. The game will be televised live on NBCSN.
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