The San Jose Sharks, spearheaded by Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, are ready to take the ice against John Carlson, Alex Ovechkin, and the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in an East-West showdown. The game gets going at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 5, and you can witness the game live on NBC Sports Washington.
San Jose Sharks vs. Washington Capitals Odds
Playing the role of sizable favorites will be the Capitals (-230), while the Sharks are dogs displaying moneyline odds of +190, and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 7 goals (-105 for the over, -115 for the under).
Washington is 28-14 straight up (SU) and has earned 7.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. That winning percentage, ranked first in the league in this young season, is an improvement over the 48-34 record from last year’s regular season campaign. Through 42 regular season matches, 27 of the team’s games have gone over the total, while 15 have gone under and none have pushed. The team’s 11-8 SU at home this year.
The Capitals have converted on 22.1 percent of their power play chances this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, their penalty kill is ranked fourth overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 84.2 percent of all penalties.
Averaging 26.3 saves per game with a .902 save percentage, Braden Holtby (17-12-4) has been the principal goalkeeper for the Caps this season. If the Caps choose to give him the day off, however, Washington could roll with Ilya Samsonov (11-4-4 record, .918 save percentage, 2.33 goals against average).
San Jose has lost 9.6 units for bettors taking the moneyline thus far and is currently 19-24 straight up (SU). A total of 21 of its outings have gone under the total, while 19 have gone over and just two have pushed. The Sharks are 8-12 SU as the visiting team this season.
The Sharks have converted on just 14.8 percent of their power play chances this season, a mark that places them in the bottom-five overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked first overall and it’s successfully killed off 88.2 percent of all opponent power plays.
Martin Jones (.893 save percentage and 3.13 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for San Jose. Jones is averaging 24.6 saves per game and owns a 13-17-1 record.
San Jose Sharks at Washington Capitals Betting Picks
Free Pick: SU Winner – Capitals, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
Over San Jose’s last ten games, six of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 2-4 in those games).
Power plays and penalty kills may prove to be key in this matchup. The Sharks are 4-8 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 14-14 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Capitals are 8-5 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 12-7 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
San Jose is 2-1 in games decided by a shootout this season while Washington is 3-2 in shootouts.
For both of these clubs, the over has hit in four of their last five matchups.
San Jose has averaged 6.0 giveaways over its last five home games, an improvement from its season average of 9.3 giveaways per game (the 10th-fewest in the league).
Washington has averaged 13.2 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 10.6 giveaways per game (ranked 19th overall).
This game features two of the more aggressive teams in the league. San Jose skaters have dished out the league’s 10th-most hits per game (22.6) while the Capitals have recorded the seventh-most (24.1).
