Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks Betting Preview
Opening Moneyline: Chicago +105 / San Jose -125 O/U 5.5 goals
Time: 10:30 PM EST Thursday January 28, 2010
Tonight in a Western Conference match up between 2 teams that lead their respective division the San Jose Sharks host the Chicago Blackhawks. The Sharks are one of the hottest teams in the league, as they have won 5 straight, are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and lead the Pacific Division by a whopping 13 points over the Phoenix Coyotes. The Blackhawks have been solid lately, as they are coming off a win, are a legit 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, and have an even more whopping of a 15 point lead in the Central Division over the Nashville Predators.
This season the Sharks are 18-4-6 at home and the Blackhawks are 15-8-3 on the road.
Currently San Jose is in 1st place in the Western Conference with a slim 2 point lead over Chicago.
In their last games the Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Tuesday night and the Sharks beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Saturday.
Even though these teams are 1-1-1 against each other this season the Sharks may have a little revenge on their minds, as the last time Chicago visited San Jose they laid a 7-2 beat down on them in their house.
Chicago is the 4th highest scoring team in the league, but they will be facing a red-hot goalie tonight in San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov (30 wins 2.17 GAA save percentage 92.8%), who ranks 3rd in the league in GAA, 1st in wins, and 4th in save percentage.
Nabokov has been on fire lately going 6-0-1 in his last 7 games with a GAA of only 1.13 and at home this season he has a GAA of only 2.00. However, he has struggled against Chicago in his last five starts only going 1-2-2 with a 4.03 GAA.
The Blackhawks will have to play good team hockey on offense, as they only have one player that ranks in the top 30 in goals this season (Patrick Kane 17th with 21 goals).
The Sharks have the 2nd highest scoring team this season averaging 3.28 goals per game and, unlike Chicago, San Jose has 2 players ranking in the top 10 in goals with Patrick Marleau, who ranks 1st in the league (35 goals), and Dany Heatley, who ranks 4th (30 goals).
Chicago does have a solid defense allowing an average of 2.23 goals this season.
Even though Cristobal Huet (23 wins 2.25 GAA save percentage 90.4%) has 18 more starts than Antti Niemi (13 wins 1.99 GAA 91.8%) this season Niemi has started all 3 games against San Jose this season going 2-1-0 and allowing 8 goals.
Chicago is 6-1 in their last 7 games against teams with a winning record, has an Over record of 8-2-1 in their last 11 games, and has an Over record of 5-1-1 in their last 7 games against teams with a winning record. San Jose is 5-0 in their last 5 games against teams with a winning percentage above 60%, has an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 games, and has an Over record of 5-1 in their last 6 games against teams with a winning road record.
Our Selection : The Sharks have won 5 in a row and are 8-1-1 in their last 10 and I'm sure they haven't forgot getting smoked 7-2 the last time the Blackhawks were in town. The Sharks will be looking for a little payback tonight. The linesmaker at 5Dimes have the Sharks at -.5 +128 in 60 minutes. Take the Sharks -.5 +128 in 60 minutes.
Future Betting Odds
NHL Handicapping
New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers 4-11
Well, today's game in the City of Brotherly love is for all the marbles, as the Philadelphia Flyers host the New York Rangers. Both of these teams are tied for the 8th and last playoff spot in the East, so the winner of this game will make the playoffs while the loser will be watching them from home.