NHL Hockey Betting: San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues

The Canada-less Stanley Cup playoffs continue as the Western Conference plays Game Two of their final series on Tuesday night with the St. Louis Blues hosting the San Jose Sharks. The Blues took a 2-1 victory in Game One thanks to a solid goaltending performance from Brian Elliott. The Sharks outshot the Blues 32-23 in the loss but Elliott was up to the task. This has become a common refrain throughout this matchup–the Sharks outshot the Blues in every one of the four games they’ve played this season.

One thing that is curious about this series is the valuation. The Blues are just a -130 favorite over the Sharks for Game Two while back East the Pittsburgh Penguins are a -210 favorite over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second game of their series. There’s definitely more urgency for the Penguins after the Game One loss and the public is certainly making a big deal out of the absence of Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop for the time being. But it’s tough to justify the Penguins being a 2 to 1 favorite over the defending Eastern Conference champs. This series has more reasonable pricing and–if anything–the home team might be somewhat undervalued.

The Sharks were the best road team in the NHL during the regular season but have now lost four straight away from home dating back to the Nashville series. This is a tough matchup for San Jose. There were times during their previous series that the Predators simply manhandled the Sharks. Now they facing a team that plays a very similar style of hockey to Nashville, only does it better. The Blues are a miserable team to play against–they’re talented and physical and that’s a dangerous combination.

Ultimately, the Blues should wear down the Sharks and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Lest we forget, the Sharks were an awful home team during the regular season (18-20-3) while the Blues were excellent on the road (25-11-5). The Sharks had more trouble than they should have had with an erratic Nashville team and now they’re in against a very dangerous opponent. St. Louis wins Game Two and heads out to California with a 2-0 lead in this series.

BET ST. LOUIS BLUES -135 OVER SAN JOSE SHARKS