Two of the top teams in the Western Conference meet on Tuesday night, as the San Jose Sharks visit the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks are leading the Pacific Division, while the Wild are in second place in the Central Division. This is a tough spot for San Jose, as they are playing their third game in four days and with no rest. The Wild are also in a 3-in-4 situation, but they were off on Monday. Minnesota has taken both meetings this season, winning 3-1 at home and 5-4 on the road.
This war on the ice will go down Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 8 p.m. ET at the Xcel Energy Center. The game will be televised live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Tuesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Wild will be home favorites in this game, but San Jose has been a good road team this season going 19-15 in their first 34 road contests. Nine of those games went over the total, 13 went under, with 12 pushes. Minnesota is 21-11 at home this season with 17 games going over, 14 going under, with three pushes.
San Jose has been putting on a big push to get the top seed in the Western Conference, but Chicago has been playing so well the Sharks probably won’t catch them. San Jose head coach Peter DeBoer said to the Mercury News that getting the top seed is a huge advantage. “You can’t underestimate (the benefits of having) a Game 7 in your own building, not traveling,” DeBoer said. “It’s not the be-all and end-all, but you want that path. It’s a hard enough path; you want to make it as easy as possible on yourself.”
Minnesota was rolling along towards the top record in the league but they have recently hit the skids and are now five points back of Chicago in the Central. Head coach Bruce Boudreau said that his team just needs to get back to basics. “It’s about getting back to the simplicity of what we did early on in the season, which is when we had so much success,” Boudreau said after the loss to the Rangers. “They have to get it in their head that what worked will work again. Once that happens, then I think we’ll get back on the road to success.”
Special Teams
San Jose has been disappointing this season on the power play, as they are just 25th in the league at 16.8%. That is one reason the team is just 15th in goals per game at 2.7 per contest. San Jose has been decent in penalty killing at 81.8%, which is 13th in the league. The Sharks are 2nd in the league in fewest goals allowed at 2.3 per contest.
Minnesota has been really good on special teams this season, as they rank 9th in the league on the power play at 20.9%. They are 2nd in the league in goals per game at 3.2 per contest. They are 7th in penalty killing at 84% and they are 6th in fewest goals allowed at 2.4 per contest.
Goalie Report
Both teams have solid starters and both should play in this contest. The Sharks have Martin Jones who is 32-24 with a 2.24 goals against average. His backup is Aaron Dell who is 10-5 with a 1.90 goals against average.
The Wild have Devan Dubynk who is 36-20 with a 2.12 goals against average. His backup is Darcy Kuemper who is 7-7 with a 3.21 goals against average.
Free NHL Picks
San Jose has won six of the last ten in this series with two of the last three going under the total. Minnesota has dominated at home in this series, winning 8 of the last 10 with the last two going under.
I think this will be a tight, defensive game, so I will go under the total.
NHL Odds: Wild 2, Sharks 1
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