The San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights meet at T-Mobile Arena in a divisional showdown. It’s the fourth time these teams have met in the regular season. The match will get going at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 31, and you can see it live on NBC Sports California.
San Jose Sharks at Vegas Golden Knights Odds
The Golden Knights are 48-29 straight up (SU) and have earned 15.2 units for moneyline bettors this season. Of the team’s 77 games this season, 38 have gone over the total, while 37 have gone under and just two have pushed. This year, the team’s 27-12 SU at home.
Vegas has connected on 22.6 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that’s good enough for eighth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 10th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 82.1 percent of all penalties.
As a team, Vegas has been penalized just 3.2 times per game overall this season, 3.2 per game over its past five outings total, and 2.8 per game over its last five home outings. The team has been forced to kill penalties for just 6.4 minutes per game over its last 10 matchups, overall.
With a .931 save percentage and 28.1 saves per game, Marc-Andre Fleury (28-16-4) has been the primary goalkeeper for the Golden Knights this season. If the Knights choose to give him the evening off, however, the team might turn to Malcolm Subban (13-5-5 record, .917 save percentage, 2.51 goals against average).
The Knights will continue to lean on the leadership via Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson. Marchessault (73 points) has tallied 25 goals and 48 assists and has recorded two or more points in 21 different games this year. Karlsson has 40 goals and 30 assists to his credit and has recorded at least one point in 49 contests.
On the other side of the rink, San Jose is 44-34 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 3.4 units this season. A total of 42 of its contests have gone under the total, while 34 have gone over and just two have pushed. As the away team, San Jose is 20-20 SU.
San Jose has converted on 20.5 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked second overall and it’s successfully killed off 84.9 percent of all penalties.
San Jose’s skaters have been penalized only 3.3 times per game in total this season, 3.4 per game over their past five contests total, and 2.8 per game over their last five road outings. The team has been forced to stave off opponent power plays just 6.8 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Martin Jones (.917 save percentage and 2.48 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for San Jose. Jones is averaging 26.1 saves per game and owns a 30-26-7 record.
Brent Burns (11 goals, 52 assists) has been one of the top playmakers on offense for the visiting Sharks.
San Jose Sharks at Vegas Golden Knights Free Picks
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner – Sharks, O/U – Over
Notes
Betting Notes
The under has hit in each of Vegas’ last five games.
Power plays and penalty kills could be even more critical than usual in the outcome of this game. The Sharks are 18-20 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 33-25 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Golden Knights are 18-12 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 37-19 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
Two of Vegas’ last ten games have gone to a shootout. The team is 1-1 in those games and 3-3 overall in shootouts this season.
Vegas is ranked 2nd in the NHL with 10.4 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down, however, as it has managed 7.5 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.4 takeaways over its last five.
San Jose has created 8.2 takeaways per game over its last five road games, its season average of 8.7 takeaways per game (ranked sixth).
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