The Kota Sports Gambling Network introduces the newest hockey betting articles “Puck It” by Puck Norris. Today’s matchup features the (21-10-1) Minnesota Wild on the road against the (13-16-4) San Jose Sharks. The puck drop is scheduled for 9:30 pm CT, and the game will be televised on Fox Sports North for the northern Midwest audience. The current betting lines have the Wild as the favorite with a (-160) ML and the Sharks as the underdog with a (+140) ML. The over/under is set at 5.5.
Matchup
This is the fourth matchup of the season for these two teams. The Wild lead the series 2-1, and the over/under is 2-1. The Wild are 1-0 and the over/under is 1-0 in games played in San Jose this season. The Wild are currently in 3rd place in the West Division with 43 points, while the Sharks are in 7th place in the West Division with 30 points.
Breakdown
The Wild come into this game on a 3 game winning streak and are 8-2 in there last 10 games, while the Sharks have lost 2 in a row and are 4-5-1 in their last 10. The Wild are 8-7-1 on the road while the Sharks 5-6-2 at home. The Wild average 2.94 goals a game and allow 2.44 goals a game. The Sharks average 2.76 goals a game and allow 3.48 goals a game.
ML Trends
Wild as road favorite: 7-3
Sharks as home underdog: 4-8
Wild vs teams that win < 45%: 10-5
Sharks vs teams that win > 55%: 5-10
Wild vs teams allowing > 2.9 GPG: 11-5
Sharks vs teams that allowing < 2.6 GPG: 3-10
Wild Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen record: 12-5
Sharks Goalie Martin Jones record: 10-9
Prediction
The Wild are playing their best hockey of the season with an 8-2 record in their last 10 games. Their goalie Kaapo Kahkonen has posted an incredible 2.29 goals against per game to go along with his 12-5 record. The Sharks have not played anywhere near the level of the team that scored 3 straight goals on a major powerplay to knock the Vegas Golden Knights out of the 2018-2019 playoffs. Sharks goalie Martin Jones has been rough this year with a 3.32 goals against per game and his backup, the former Wild goalie, Devan Dubnyk has been just as poor with a 3.18 goals against per game. I don’t know if the defense has been hanging the goalies out to dry or if these two are past their prime, but neither of them will be able to contain this hot Wild team, as the Wild have cleaned up on inferior opponents this season. The Wild will light up the goal tonight regardless of who is in goal for the Sharks. I see the Wild winning this game 4-1 or 4-0, which gives the Wild ML (-160) huge value as I see the Wild as closer to a (-200) favorite.
PUCK IT PICK OF THE DAY
Minnesota Wild ML (-160)
