In their second head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the St. Louis Blues and the San Jose Sharks meet at the SAP Center. This Western Conference matchup will get underway at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 17 and it’s being shown live on NBC Sports California.
St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks Odds
With a moneyline of -205, San Jose heads into the matchup as the obvious favorite. The line for St. Louis sits at +175, and the Over/Under (O/U) is placed at 6 goals (-125 for the over, +105 for the under).
Losing 5.7 units for moneyline gamblers, the Sharks are 10-10 straight up (SU) overall thus far. That winning percentage, ranked 2nd in the Pacific Division in this young season, is a regression from the 45-37 record that the team managed during last year’s regular season campaign. Of its 20 games this season, 12 have gone over the total, while eight have gone under and none have pushed. The team is 6-4 SU at home thus far.
San Jose’s converted on 18.5 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked second overall, and it’s successfully killed off 88.9 percent of all penalties.
As a team, San Jose has been called for penalties 3.8 times per game overall this season, and 3.0 per game over its last five home outings. The team’s had to kill penalties for just 6.0 minutes per game over its last 10 outings, overall.
Sporting a .894 save percentage and 24.9 saves per game, Martin Jones (9-6-1) has been the top goalkeeper for the Sharks this year. If head coach Peter Deboer chooses to give him a breather, however, the team might go with Aaron Dell (1-4-4 record, .905 save percentage, 2.96 goals against average).
The Sharks will continue to look for leadership via Brent Burns and Timo Meier. Burns (22 points) has put up three goals and 19 assists and has recorded two or more points seven times this year. Meier has 12 goals and seven assists to his credit and has notched at least one point in 13 games.
St. Louis has lost 5.8 units for bettors taking the moneyline thus far and is currently 7-10 straight up (SU). Eight of its outings have gone over the total, while seven have gone under the total and just one has pushed. St. Louis’ 2-4 SU as the visiting team this season.
St. Louis has converted on 25.8 percent of its power play chances this year, a mark that’s good enough for ninth-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked ninth overall and it’s successfully killed off 82.1 percent of all opponent power plays.
St. Louis’ skaters have been whistled for penalties 3.9 times per game this season, 3.8 per game over their past five games total, and 4.2 per game over their last five road outings. The team’s had to kill penalties just 8.7 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jake Allen (3.51 goals against average and .890 save percentage) has been the primary option in goal for St. Louis. Allen is averaging 26.8 saves per game and has five wins, eight losses, and three OT losses to his credit.
Ryan O’Reilly (10 goals, 13 assists) will pace the attack for the visiting Blues.
St. Louis Blues vs. San Jose Sharks Betting Predictions
Free Pick: SU Winner – Sharks, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
For both of these teams, the over has hit in three of their last five matchups.
St. Louis has managed 29.4 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while San Jose is averaging 33.6 shots per game over its last five at home.
The Sharks are 3-2 SU when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Blues are 1-3 SU in games where they serve more minutes than their opponent.
San Jose has created 10.0 takeaways per game over its last five home games, an improvement over its season average of 8.0 takeaways per game (ranked 11th overall).
St. Louis is ranked 13th in the NHL this season with 7.6 takeaways per game. That figure has trended higher, as it’s created 8.3 takeaways over its last 10 games and 8.8 takeaways over its last five.
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