The San Jose Sharks are favored at home on Wednesday night, as they host the Nashville Predators in a game that can be seen on NBCSN. These teams are considered two of the best in the Western Conference, but they are both hovering around the .500 mark so far this season. The Predators have not played since losing at home on Saturday to the Islanders, while the Sharks are coming off a home game on Monday against Toronto.
Don't miss the ice action from the SAP Center at 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 1, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Predators are 5-4-2 on the season, including 2-3-1 on the road. They have gone under in four of their six road games. The Predators are scoring 2.5 goals per game and giving up 2.7 per contest. The Sharks were 5-5 in their first 10 games, including 2-3 at home, with two games going over, two going under, with one push. They are scoring 2.7 goals per game and giving up 2.6 per contest.
Nashville is coming off a very poor effort on Saturday, as they were blown out at home, losing 6-2 to the Islanders. The Predators have had plenty of time to get ready for this game, the first of a four-game road trip. The Predators should be going with top goaltender Pekka Rinne in this contest and that is good news for the team because backup Juuse Saros has struggled. He has allowed at least three goals in 11 of his last 16 appearances, while Rinne has a goals against average of 1.86 this season.
San Jose is coming off a successful road trip, as they went 3-2 but San Jose has not been that great at the SAP Center. Tomas Hertl said the team needs to start playing well at home. “We’ve got a lot of good teams like Tampa, Nashville (coming in). It’s our building, our tank and we have to play better there.”
The Sharks have been led in scoring by Logan Courture who had 11 points in his first 10 games. San Jose has gotten quality play in goal from Martin Jones and Aaron Dell. Jones has a goals against average of 2.31, while Dell has a GAA of 2.41.
Special Teams
Nashville is 7th in the league on the power play at 24.5% and they are 12th in penalty killing at 83%. San Jose is 11th on the power play at 20%, while they are 5th in penalty killing at 88.4%. The Sharks killed off 19 of 20 penalties in their recently completed road trip.
Key Stat
The Predators won two of the three meetings against the Sharks last season, winning 7-2 at home and 3-1 in San Jose. The Sharks took the other meeting in San Jose by a score of 4-1. The Sharks have won five of the last six at home in this series, with the last two going under.
Free NHL Picks
This is the first of a four-game road trip for the Predators. Nashville has had plenty of time to get ready for this trip, as they last played on Saturday. The Sharks will not have as much rest, as they hosted Toronto on Monday. Picking a side in this game looks to be really difficult, as the Predators will have had more rest, but the Sharks are normally a very good home team. I think there is more value on the total. The Predators are scoring only 2.5 goals per game and they have gone under in four of their six road games, while the Sharks are scoring just 2.7 goals per contest. It should be Rinne going against Jones in this one and I expect a tight, low scoring contest that goes under the total.
NHL Odds: Sharks 2, Predators 1
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