NHL Hockey Betting: San Jose Sharks at Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are spinning their wheels at the moment as they try to get into the upper half of the Central Division. It’s not that they’re far off the pace set by the teams immediately above them, St. Louis and Nashville. They’re 3 points back of the Blues and 5 back of the Predators. The problem is that they’ve been unable to sustain any momentum for any length of time this season. They’ll enter this game on a 4-5-1 run in their last 10 games. With the top three teams in the division all 7-3 in their last 10 games that math just isn’t going to work.
Making matters tougher they’re playing a San Jose Sharks team that is not only 7-3-0 in their last ten games but that has won five straight. They’re now one point out of the Pacific Division lead currently held by Anaheim and have opened up a 2 point advantage over third place Edmonton. In other words, they’re not an easy team to beat right now and particularly for a Jets team that hasn’t been much at home this year (13-10-1)–they actually have the same record at home that San Jose has on the road (13-10-1). The Sharks have improved their play at home as well–last year they had they best road record in the NHL but the home record of an expansion team. This season, they’re 17-6-1 on home ice and even though their road performance has dipped slightly that’s probably still a healthier dynamic.
No confirmation on either team’s goalie at this point though San Jose is expected to go with Martin Jones. The former LA Kings backup is 25-14-2 with a 2.23 goals against average and a 0.917 save percentage. Currently, Ondrej Pavelec is ‘penciled in’ to the starting lineup for Winnipeg. In three starts he’s got a 2-1-0 record with a 3.05 goals against average and a 0.907 save percentage. Since the Jets are carrying three goalies at this point his status is tenuous at best for this game until the Jets confirm otherwise.
The Sharks are just better than the Jets at this point. They’ve won the only head to head game this season taking a 5-2 victory at home on 1/16/17. They’ve won 8 of the last 11 trips they’ve made to Winnipeg and 16 of 24 overall.
BET SAN JOSE SHARKS -115 OVER WINNIPEG JETS
