The
leaders of the National Hockey League, the Sharks, are receiving the Preds at the HP Pavillion Center, in what looks to be a
highly lopsided matchup. Livetipsportal.com provides you the needed informations to help you make your betting choice.
The
San Jose Sharks (13-3-0) are actually leading the Western Conference with a league-high 26 points. And they are
on track to break a record, as they are still unbeaten at home, going 9-0-0 since the start of the season. With this impressive record, they are tied for the third all-time home winning streak to start a season, and are the first to win their first nine games since the 1971-72 Chicago Blackhawks. The league record has been established by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1963-64, when they went 11-0-0. The only other team in NHL history who has won its first ten home games are the 1925-26 Ottawa Senators. So the Sharks are meeting history!
San Jose has also been
powerful at home against the Preds those past seasons, going 7-0-1 since 2003-04. Last year, the Sharks won all of their four games to sweep their series against Nashville.
The Sharks lost their last game 4-2 in Phoenix, but had a seven games winning streak right before that, and are 8-2-0 in their last ten games. So the
confidence is there. But...
Two of their key components are slightly injured. Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov (10-2-0, 2.72 GAA, 89.1%) is listed day-to-day with a lower-body injury and missed the last two games of his team. And right winger Jonathan Cheechoo (4G, 3A, -1, 12 PIM in 14GP) also missed the last two games, with an upper-body injury. In goal, Brian Boucher could do the job in case Nabokov can't return. Boucher started the season with back-to-back shutouts and has a 1.00 GAA and 95.8% in four games played, with a 3-1-0 record. And the absence of Cheechoo shouldn't hurt too much the Sharks offense, as he is not in the top-10 points scorer of the team so far. Plus, San Jose can count on hard-nosed veterans who had success in their career against Nashville, like Joe Thornton (6G and 23A in 20GP), Patrick Marleau (12G 17A in 34GP), or defensemen Dan Boyle (4G 5A in 8GP) and Rob Blake (2G 15A in 30GP).
San Jose is well-ranked in the league in nearly all the main statistics departments. They are 5th with 3.25 goals per game, 5th with 2.38 goals against per game, 1st with 37.0 shots per game, 2nd with just 25.0 shots allowed per game, and 8th on the penalty kill with 85.2%. Their powerplay is not so dominant though, ranked only 19th with an average 16.2%. They are especially in trouble at home, with only 6 powerplay goals on 47 opportunities (12.8%). But in the same time, the Preds penalty kill is horrible on the road, with just 72.9%.
Things are tougher for the
Nashville Predators (6-7-1), ranked 11th in the Western Conference. This game in San Jose will be the fourth of a six-games road trip. And while they are strong at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (5-1-0),
they've been horrible so far out of their base, with a 1-6-1 record on the road.
Last week was a bad one for Nashville,
loosing all of their three games to North-West Division teams and
being shutout twice. They eventually scored six times against a sleeping Calgary Flames team, but surrendered 7 goals to loose anyway.
The team really
lack depth up-front, with only two forwards having more than two goals (Martin Erat 7 and Jason Arnott 6). Sure, 23 years old defenseman Shea Weber is also putting high numbers offensively with 7 goals and 7 assists, being second in the team with 14 points, but he can't fill all the holes by himself. The offense globaly stays effective though, ranked 10th with 3.00 goals per game, despite a low average of 27.6 shots per game, 22nd in the league.
Defensively however, the lack of depth and experience, plus the
absence of a real #1 goalie is sanctionned by an average of 3.50 goals allowed per game, 27th in league. And while the team allows few shots on net (27.1 per game, 5th), goalie Dan Ellis isn't the most reliable part of the team, going 4-7-1 with 3.22 GAA and 87.9%.
The
special units aren't really better. The powerplay is ranked 25th with 14.9%, and even falls down to 11.4% on the road. And the penalty kill isn't more solid, with just 78.3%, 23rd in the league, and a struggling 72.9% on the road.
The 3 keys of the game:
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The first goal: Both teams have a good record when they open the score, Sans Jose being 6-2-0 and Nashville going 5-2-0. However, the Sharks have a wide advantage over the Preds when it comes to trailing first. The Sharks are 7-1-0 in this domain, while Nashville struggles at 1-5-1. So the Predators must open the score if they want to have a little chance.
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The first period: Both teams are unbeaten when they lead after 20 minutes. 4-0-0 for San Jose, 5-0-0 for Nashville. The Sharks can make the comeback, as they are 4-2-0 when trailing after the first period, but Nashville doesn't have this capcity to react, going 0-4-1 when trailing at the first intermission.
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Sharks goalie: It's still uncertain who'll be in net for San Jose. If Nabokov returns, which i personnally doubt, the Preds would have no chance. If Boucher stands in front of the net, he can be solid, but can also blow a lead, like he did against Phoenix when the Sharks lead 2-0 to finally loose 2-4.
Advice:
No hesitation there: bet on the
San Jose Sharks, that's to say choice 1. The best odd for that is 1.75 at Expekt.com. A pretty interesting odd for such a matchup!
