San Jose Sharks at Calgary Flames Betting Odds
Opening Moneyline: San Jose +105 / Calgary -125 O/U 5.5 goals
Time: 9 PM EST Friday March 19, 2010
Tonight the Calgary Flames host the struggling San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have lost 4 games in a row and are now tied with the Chicago Blackhakws for the top spot in the West. The Flames are coming off a win and they need to keep winning to make the post season, as they are 1 point behind Detroit for the 8th and last playoff spot.
There is a good chance that tonight's match up will be a first round playoff match up.
It will not be easy for the Flames to make the playoffs, as in their last 12 games of the season they face 3 teams that are atop their divisions and 4 other teams that will likely make the post season.
This season Calgary is 17-16-3 at home and San Jose is a Western Conference best 21-11-2 on the road.
In their last games Calgary beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday night and San Jose lost to the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 last night.
The Sharks have won 2 of 3 games against the Flames this season splitting 2 games in San Jose and Calgary may have a little payback in mind since in their last game at home against the Sharks they were throttled 9-1 on January 18th.
The Sharks have not played well on both sides of the ice in their 4-game losing streak, as they have given up 18 goals and only scored 8 in that span. Their offense, which ranks 3rd in the league (3.19 goals per game) has to snap out of it, as tonight they will face a solid Calgary defense that is only giving up an average of 2.40 goals per game.
Calgary has to win this game with their defense, as their offense only ranks 28th in the league in scoring (2.49 goals per game).
San Jose G Evgeni Nabokov (37 wins 2.38 GAA save percentage 92.4%) has struggled recently and he will have to play well tonight, especially if the Sharks' offensive woes continue.
Even though Calgary does not have a dynamic offense San Jose still has to worry about Jarome Iginla, who leads the Flames in goals (31), assists (33), and points (64).
The Sharks' will be facing Calgary G Miikka Kiprusoff (30 wins 2.22 GAA save percentage 92.3%), who has been playing well and ranks 4th in the league in GAA and 6th in save percentage.
Betting Trends
San Jose is 0-4 in their last 4 road games and has an Under record of 5-2 in their last 7 road games.
Calgary is 6-0 in their last 6 games playing on 1 days rest, has an Under record of 25-5 in their last 30 home games, and an Under record of 4-0 in their last 4 home games against teams with a road winning percentage of greater than 60%.
Future Betting Odds
NHL Handicapping
Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins 5-17
The Boston Bruins need to play much better in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lost the opener 5-2 at home and can ill-afford to fall behind 2-0 to Lightning. Tampa Bay are on quite a roll, winning their last eight in a row in the playoffs. The oddsmaker at Bodog have the Bruins as a -145 favorite to even-up the series.