The San Jose Sharks are slight home favorites on Sunday night, as they host the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals. This series has been very even, with the teams splitting their first four games, two of which went into overtime. The first three games of this series were high scoring, but Game 4 in San Jose was a 4-0 shutout win for the Sharks. Let’s look at this contest and NHL Playoff picks.
This war on the ice will go down Sunday, May 6, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. ET at SAP 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 Sunday schedule.
Odds Analysis
This series has been dominated by the two goaltenders, as Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Jones have been excellent. The Sharks probably would have already won this series if not for the play of Fleury. San Jose finally got some secondary scoring in Game 4, as Marcus Sorensen and Joonas Donskoi scored and Vegas actually looked beatable. The Sharks believe that they are starting to see some cracks in Fleury. "We'd been chasing the game the whole series," head coach Pete DeBoer said after Game 4. "We talked about it, but it's easier said than done. I think we've had chances in the last two games to get out in front, but (Marc-Andre) Fleury has I think been exceptional, especially early in games, in order to keep us off the board. It's nice that we've stuck with it, and hopefully we see some cracks." Jones played his best game of the series in Game 4, as he made a number of great saves and if he continues that strong play the Sharks could win this series.
Vegas was just above .500 on the road during the regular season, as they went 22-19. The Golden Knights took two games in Los Angeles in the first round and they split the first two games of this series in San Jose. The Golden Knights went over the total 22 times on the road during the regular season, 18 going under, with one push. The Golden Knights are scoring 3.3 goals per game and giving up 2.7 per contest.
The Sharks were 25-16 at home in the regular season, and they were 2-0 in the first round at home against Anaheim. San Jose went over the total 21 times at home, under 19 times, with one push. They are scoring about 3 goals per game and giving up 2.8 per contest.
Special Teams
The Golden Knights are 11th in the league on the power play and they are 10th in terms of penalty killing. The Sharks are just 16th in the league on the power play, but they are 2nd in terms of penalty killing.
Series Notes
These teams have met four times previously at SAP Center with each team winning twice. Two games went over and two went under. San Jose was favored in all four games. The total in three of the four games was listed at 5.5, while the other total was listed at 6.
Free NHL Picks
This series has been one of the toughest to predict, as just when you think one team has the edge the other one comes back. I think San Jose has more overall depth than Vegas and it is starting to show. The Golden Knights were able to roll four lines and overwhelm the Kings but they can’t do that with San Jose. Vegas is definitely an amazing expansion team, but I think their overall depth is starting to get exposed just a little bit. I will take the Sharks to get this won on Sunday night.
NHL Odds: Sharks 4, Golden Knights 3
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