San Jose Sharks vs Montreal Canadiens NHL Game Picks 10/24/2019

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Bell Centre

Martin Jones and the San Jose Sharks (3-5-1, 8th in the Pacific Division) are headed to Bell Centre on Thursday where they'll meet the Montreal Canadiens (4-3-2, 5th in the Atlantic Division). The Sharks open this contest at +113 while the Canadiens are priced at -125. The over/under has been set at 6.5. The Sharks are covering 33.3% of the time, having gone 3-6 SU. The Canadiens are covering 37.5% of the time, going 3-5 straight up.

The San Jose Sharks head into this game holding a record of 3 wins and 5 defeats, which is good for 8th in the Pacific Division. So far this season, they have converted a total of 24 goals which is 11th in the Western Conference and 20th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -8, which is good for 27th in the NHL. The Sharks currently have a total of 7 points, which is 25th in the NHL and 13th in the conference. In discussing shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 264 which is 13th in the Western Conference and 23rd in the NHL. As a team, San Jose has collected a total of 149 hits which means they are averaging 16.6 per game. They currently have a total of 68 blocks for this year. The man in goal for San Jose is Martin Jones from North Vancouver, British Columbia. He is 30 years old and has racked up 399 minutes defending the net for the campaign. Jones is allowing 3.46 GAA which has him ranked 16th among West goaltenders and 35th among goaltenders in the NHL. Over the course of this year, he has surrendered 23 goals. He holds a save percentage of .894 which has him ranked 16th among West goaltenders.

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The San Jose Sharks were on the wrong end of the scoreboard with a 4 - 3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres in their last contest. The Sharks were neither impressive or disappointing offensively in this defeat. For this game, they finished 3 out of the 28 shots they put on goal. Moreover, they had 2 power play chances but weren't able to score. San Jose racked up 8 penalty minutes for this outing. The Corsi for the Sharks was 40 and the Corsi against was 32 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 55.6%. Their Fenwick sat at 31 and the Fenwick against sat at 27, telling us they have a Fenwick percentage of 53.4%. They won 19 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 21 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 60.9% and they had a PDO of 98.0 for this matchup. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Buffalo Sabres tallied 29 shots. They finished with 4 penalty minutes and they tallied 4 power play chances.

The Canadiens are the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 4 wins and 3 defeats. When talking about goal differential, they sit 5th in the conference and 11th in the league with +4. They currently have a total of 33 goals for this season which ranks 5th in the conference. Montreal has a save percentage as a team of .899 which has them sitting 18th in the league, which tells us scoring chances could be plentiful if they are aggressive. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.9% ranking them 5th in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Montreal is Carey Price who is having an ok year by allowing 2.68 GAA and that has him ranked 10th among Eastern Conference goalies and 21st in the NHL. In the 426 minutes he has been on the ice this season, he's allowed 19 goals. He's earned a save % of .912, which has him placed 10th among Eastern Conference goalies and 21st in the NHL.

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The Montreal Canadiens played the Minnesota Wild in an outing where the Canadiens ended up taking the loss by a score of 4 - 3. While out there on the ice, Montreal went home with a 56.6% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 56 while the opposition had a Corsi of 43. They had a Fenwick percentage of 54.7% by earning a Fenwick of 41 and the Wild finishing with a 34 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Montreal had and it shows us they played like an average team. Their PDO was 99.0 and their oZS percentage was 58.1%. The Canadiens netted 3 goals of the 33 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 2 power play attempts in this outing and were able to convert 1 out of those opportunities. On the other side of the ice, the Wild had 5 power play opportunities and took advantage of the situation by scoring 2 goals of those chances. Montreal gave up 33 shots on goal and the Wild ended up with a total of 4 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Montreal (-125)

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