Minnesota Wild vs San Jose Sharks Predictions, NHL Picks 3/5/2020

Game: Minnesota Wild vs San Jose Sharks

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2020

Location: SAP Center in San Jose, CA

TV: FSN/NSCA

Odds/Point Spread: Wild (-105) Sharks (-105)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Alex Stalock and the Minnesota Wild (33-26-7, 5th in the Central Division) head to SAP Center on Thursday where they'll take on the San Jose Sharks (29-33-4, 6th in the Pacific Division). The Wild open this contest at -105 while the Sharks are coming in at -105. The O/U has been set at 6. The Wild are covering 48.4% of the time, having gone 31-33 SU. San Jose is covering 42.2% of the time, going 27-37 straight up.

The Minnesota Wild head into this game holding a record of 33 wins and 26 losses, which puts them at 5th in the Central Division. So far this season, they have earned a total of 207 goals which ranks 6th in the Western Conference and 14th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +3, which puts them at 17th in the NHL. The Wild have compiled a total of 73 pts, which ranks 20th in the NHL and 9th in the West. When it comes to shots at the opposition, they have compiled a total of 1,992 which ranks 12th in the West and 25th in the NHL. As a unit, Minnesota currently has a total of 997 hits which means they have an average of 15.1 per game. They have compiled a total of 804 blocks for this season. The man in goal for Minnesota is Alex Stalock from St. Paul, Minnesota. He is 32 years old and has played a total of 2,058 mins minding the goal for the year. Stalock is allowing an average of 2.59 goals per game which has him ranked 7th among Western Conference goalies and 17th in the NHL. Over the course of this season, he has surrendered 89 goals. He holds a save % of .912 which has him ranked 17th among Western Conference goalies.

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The Minnesota Wild had a good night with a 3 - 1 victory against the Nashville Predators their last time out. The Wild offense showed they have some room for improvement in the win. For this matchup, they converted 3 of the 33 shots they attempted. They also had 7 power play opportunities but didn't net one. Minnesota had a total of 10 penalty mins for this game. The Corsi for the Wild was 42 and the Corsi against was 46 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 47.7%. Their Fenwick was 30 and the Fenwick against sat at 33, which tells us they had a Fenwick percentage of 47.6%. They won 10 face-off wins and were beaten on 26 tries to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts came in at 46.2% and they had a PDO of 114.3 for this matchup. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Nashville Predators put up 38 shots. They had 14 minutes in the box and they tallied 5 power play chances.

The Sharks will be the team across the ice and for the season they have 29 wins and 33 losses. When it comes to goal differential, they currently sit 13th in the West and 26th in the NHL with -38. They have a total of 172 goals for the season which puts them at 13th in the West. San Jose has a team save percentage of .895 which has them 30th in the NHL, which means there could be plenty of chances to score if they attack the goal. They have a team shooting percentage of 8.7% putting them at 12th in the Western Conference. In net for San Jose is Aaron Dell who is having a tough campaign by giving up 2.94 goals per contest and that ranks him 23rd in the West and 44th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,714 mins he has played this year, he has given up 84 goals. His save percentage is .907, which has him ranking 22nd in the West and 43rd in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The San Jose Sharks played the Toronto Maple Leafs in an outing where the Sharks notched a victory by a score of 5 - 2. For this matchup, San Jose went home with a 57.0% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 53 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 40. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 62.3% by way of having a Fenwick of 43 and the Maple Leafs having earned a 26 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that San Jose had and it was a good performance overall. Their PDO was 101.6 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 57.7%. The Sharks converted 5 goals of the 38 shots on goal they tried. They had 2 power play opportunities in this outing and scored 1 out of those attempts. Regarding the opposition, the Maple Leafs had 3 power play attempts but didn't put the puck in goal. San Jose gave up 27 shots on goal and the Maple Leafs ended up with a total of 4 penalty mins.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Minnesota (-105)

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