St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks NHL Picks & Predictions 3/8/2018

Thursday, March 8, 2018

SAP Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The St. Louis Blues travel to SAP Center to play the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The opening line for this game has the Blues at +131 and the Sharks at -145.

St. Louis has a record of 35-26-5 this season and on the road they have a record of 15-12-5-0. They are 6th in the Central Division. They've scored 180 goals and given up 176 goals for a point differential of +4. For the season they have an ATS record of 35-31-0 and an over/under record of 25-40-0. San Jose is 35-22-9 including 19-10-3-1 at home this season. They are 3rd in the Pacific Division. They've scored 196 goals and surrendered 184 for a goal differential of +12. Their record against the spread is 35-31-0 while their over/under record is 26-38-0.

Valuable St. Louis Blues Betting Trends

The St. Louis Blues are 35-31-0 straight up this year

The St. Louis Blues are 25-40-0 against the over/under this season

Important San Jose Sharks Betting Trends

The San Jose Sharks are 35-31-0 straight up this year

The San Jose Sharks are 26-38-0 against the over/under this season

Key St. Louis Blues Injuries

09/27/17 C Robby Fabbri ACL IR (10/01)
03/05/18 LW Nikita Soshnikov Neck is "?" Thursday vs San Jose
03/05/18 D Carl Gunnarsson Illness is "?" Thursday vs San Jose
03/05/18 D Jay Bouwmeester Hip is out for season
03/05/18 RW Scottie Upshall Lower Body is out indefinitely
02/09/18 D Joel Edmundson Forearm IR (02/08)

Key San Jose Sharks Injuries

02/19/18 RW Joel Ward Shoulder IR (02/08)
01/24/18 C Joe Thornton MCL IR (01/23)

Player Spotlight

Vladimir Tarasenko has accumulated 56 total points this season for the Blues. He has 26 goals this year with 258 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 30 assists on the season and averages 19.6 minutes played per game. Brayden Schenn averages 19.5 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 24 goals on 161 shots. He has 33 assists, giving him a total of 57 points on the season. Carter Hutton has 16 wins and 7 losses this season in net for the Blues. He has 771 shots against him and he's given up 51 goals. He's made 720 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Logan Couture has scored 49 total points this year for the Sharks. He has 27 goals this season with 168 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 16%. He has a total of 22 assists on the season and averages 18.5 minutes played per game. Brent Burns averages 25.3 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 4% by scoring 10 goals on 271 shots. He has 42 assists, giving him a total of 52 points on the season. Martin Jones has 21 wins and 17 losses this year in goal for the Sharks. He has 1,313 shots against him and he's surrendered 110 goals. He's made 1,203 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blues have 75 total points this season, which ranks them 17th in the NHL. They are 24th in the league in goals scored with 180 while they've given up 176 goals, ranking them 27th overall. They have had 213 power play opportunities and have scored 33 goals on those chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 29th in the NHL. The Blues have allowed 200 power play opportunities and have given up 37 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, putting them 14th in the league when short-handed. They average 33 shots per game and as a team shoot 8.28% for the season. They allow 30 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 91%. That puts them 10th in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sharks are 13th in the NHL with a total of 79 points this year. They have 44 power play goals on 211 opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That ranks them 12th in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 189 power play opportunities and have given up 29 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%. That is 1st in the NHL. As a team, the Sharks are 14th in the league with 196 goals scored while they've given up 184 goals, which is 23rd overall. They average 33 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 9.01%. As a team they give up 31 shots per game and have a save percentage of 91%. That is 13th in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

St. Louis has a Corsi percentage of 51.1% as they've tried 3,891 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,728 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 12th in Corsi percentage. They are 9th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 52.3% as they have 2,965 shots while they've given up 2,702 attempts on defense. The Blues start possessions in the offensive zone 50.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 49.6% for the year. That puts them 18th and 14th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,999 face-off wins as opposed to 1,973 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.3%. That is 17th overall in the NHL. On defense St. Louis has 1,483 hits and they've blocked 1,026 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 11th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Sharks are 11th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.1% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.9% for the season, which is 24th in the NHL. They have 2,057 face-off wins compared to 1,945 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.4%. That is 12th in the league. On defense San Jose has 1,106 hits and they have blocked 1,094 shots from the opposition, which is 2nd in the league. San Jose is 11th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.9% as they've attempted 4,036 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 3,897 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.1% ranks 8th as they have 3,054 attempts while they have given up 2,803 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Blues/Sharks NHL game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take San Jose -145

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