Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and the Colorado Avalanche are set to do battle against Timo Meier, Brent Burns, and the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center in a Western Conference matchup. NBC Sports Network will broadcast the action, which gets going at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 8.
Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks Odds
Colorado enters the contest as the obvious favorite with a moneyline of -160. The line for the Sharks sits at +140 and sportsbooks have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -120 for the over and +100 for the under.
Colorado is 40-27 straight up (SU) and has earned 2.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 67 regular season contests, 34 of its games have gone under the total, while 31 have gone over and just two have pushed. The Avs are 23-12 SU as the road team in 2019-20.
Colorado has converted on 18.6 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked 14th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.9 percent of all penalties..
With a .916 save percentage and 27.1 saves per game, Philipp Grubauer (19-17-4) has been the best option in goal for Colorado this season. If head coach Jared Bednar chooses to rest him, however, the team might go with Pavel Francouz (20-11-4 record, .924 save percentage, 2.39 goals against average).
On the other bench, San Jose is 29-39 straight up (SU) and has lost 9.5 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 68 regular season contests, 37 of its games have gone under the total, while 27 have gone over and just three have pushed. This season, the team is 17-18 SU as the home team.
The Sharks have converted on just 16.5 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a figure that places them in the bottom 5 overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked first overall, and it’s successfully killed off 86.7 percent of all opponent power plays.
Martin Jones has stopped 25.0 shots per game as the top option in goal for the Sharks. Jones has 17 wins, 23 losses, and two overtime losses to his name and has registered a poor .898 save percentage and 2.97 goals against average this season.
Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks Betting Picks
Free Pick: SU Winner – Sharks, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
The Sharks are 2-1 in games decided by shootout. The Avalanche are 1-1 in shootouts.
The total has gone under in three of San Jose’s last five games.
Colorado has managed 30.6 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while San Jose has been attempting 34.8 shots per game over its last five home outings.
The Sharks this season have registered the 11th-most hits per game in the NHL (22.3), but that number has risen to 25.8 over their past five home outings.