Facing each other for the third and final time this season, the Minnesota Wild and the San Jose Sharks meet at the SAP Center. This Western Conference matchup gets underway at 10:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 5 and it will be shown live on Fox Sports North.
Minnesota Wild at San Jose Sharks Odds
Playing the role of favorite will be Minnesota (-115), while San Jose is an underdog offering moneyline odds of -105, and sportsbooks have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The line for betting the total stands at -110 for the over and -110 on the under.
Minnesota is 33-33 straight up (SU) and has earned 0.1 units for moneyline bettors this season. Through 66 regular season contests, 32 of its games have gone over the total, while 29 have gone under and just five have pushed. This 2019-20 Wild team is 14-17 SU on the road.
Minnesota has converted on 21.1 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 27th overall, and it has successfully killed off only 76.5 percent of its penalties.
For the team as a whole, Minnesota has been penalized 3.6 times per game overall in the 2019-20 season, 3.6 per game over its last five games total, and 3.2 per game over its last five on the road. The team has had to kill penalties just 6.3 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Averaging 25.5 saves per game with a .912 save percentage, Alex Stalock (20-16-4) has been the primary option in goal for Minnesota this season. If Minnesota decides to rest him, however, they may roll with Devan Dubnyk (11-18-2 record, .892 save percentage, 3.34 goals against average).
Kevin Fiala and Eric Staal will both be relied on to produce for the visiting Wild. Fiala has 51 points on 21 goals and 30 assists, and has recorded two or more points 12 times. Staal has 19 goals and 28 assists to his nameand has registered at least one point in 34 games.
San Jose is 29-37 straight up (SU) and has lost 8.5 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 36 of its games have gone under the total, while 27 have gone over and just three have pushed. It’s 17-16 SU at home this season.
San Jose has converted on just 15.9 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that places it 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 86.6 percent of all opponent power plays.
The Sharks have been penalized 4.1 times per game this season, 3.6 per game over their last five games total, and 4.6 per game over their last five at home. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 8.3 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Martin Jones (25.1 saves per game) has been the primary option in goal for San Jose. Jones has 17 wins, 22 losses, and two overtime losses to his credit and has maintained a pedestrian 2.97 goals against average and a fairly-weak .898 save percentage this year.
The Sharks offense will be led by Brent Burns (12 goals, 32 assists).
Minnesota Wild at San Jose Sharks Free Picks
Prediction: SU Winner โ Sharks, O/U โ Under
Betting Trends
The total has gone under in three of San Jose’s last five games.
The Wild are 17-13 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 23-21 in games where they’re in the box for fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
Two of Minnesota’s past 10 outings have gone to a shootout. The team’s 1-1 in those games and 2-3 overall in shootouts this season.
San Jose has averaged 11.0 takeaways per game over its last five home games, an improvement over its season average of 8.4 takeaways per game (ranked 5th).
Minnesota is ranked 26th in the league this season with 6.5 takeaways per game. That figure has trended lower recently, however, as it has created 4.9 takeaways over its last 10 games and 4.4 takeaways over its last five.