It is the final game of the regular season for both the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. Vegas must win to all but assure that they secure the top spot in the West Division.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this West Division battle at the SAP Center at San Jose. Vegas is the favorite at -200. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts San Jose at +168 as the underdog.
Vegas will be without Patrick Brown, Tomas Nosek, Peyton Kregs, and Ryan Reaves. They also lost Max Pacioretty, which is a big blow to their offense. Logan Couture and John Leonard are listed as questionable for San Jose. The sharks will be without Joachim Blichfield and Radim Simek.
Golden Knights Clipped by Avalanche
Vegas jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Alex Pietrangelo, only to watch the Avalanche respond with two unanswered tallies in a 2-1 Golden Knights loss. Robin Lehner played well, stopping 19 of 21 shots. Mark Stone had an assist.
Vegas is sixth in goals per game at 3.35 and is eighth in shooting percentage at 10.3%. The Golden Knights are 22nd on the power-play at 18.2%. Stone’s assist now gives him a team-leading 40 assists and 61 points. The loss of Pacioretty means that a 24-goal scorer is out of the lineup.
Vegas is first in goals allowed per game at 2.22 and is first in penalty killing it 86.7%. Marc-Andre Fleury will likely get the start in this game. Fleury is 25-10-0 with a 2.04 GAA and a .927 save percentage.
Sharks Fall to Coyotes in OT
Alexander Barabanov scored the tying goal with just 49 seconds left in the contest, but Phil Kessel broke the Sharks’ hearts with the game-winner 2:30 into OT to give Arizona the victory. Rudolfs Balcers, Kevin Labanc, and Timo Meier scored the other three goals for San Jose.
San Jose is 23rd in goals scored per game at 2.66 and is 27th in shooting percentage at 8.8%. The power-play has been dreadful, 28th overall at 14.2%. Evander Kane is the team leader in points with 49. He also leads the Sharks with 22 goals and 27 assists. Hertl now needs one more goal to reach 20.
The Sharks are 29th in goals allowed per game at 3.46 and are 14th in penalty killing at 80.0%. This may be the final start of Martin Jones’ career was San Jose. Jones is 15-13-4 with a 3.28 GAA and a .896 save percentage.
Trends:
Vegas:
- 40-16 in their last 56 games against teams with a losing record.
- 7-2 in their last nine games on the road.
San Jose:
- 3-13 in their last 16 games.
- 3-7 in their last 10 games at home.
Vegas is 10-1 in the last 11 meetings between these teams and has won the last five games in San Jose. Vegas has a lot riding on this, and is not going to let that pesky Sharks stand in their way. As much as Jones has meant to this San Jose organization, he is going to have a tough start on his way out the door.
Pick: Take Vegas at -200.
The Total:
These teams have gone under in eight of the last 11 meetings, including for the last five in San Jose. If the total had been set at 5.5, I would be saying to go over, but I think these teams combined for six goals and a Golden Knights’ victory. The sharks have gone over in eight of their last 10 games and have gone over in six of their last seven at home.
Pick: Go under 6.5 at -118.