San Jose Sharks vs Minnesota Wild Prediction, 3/28/2024 NHL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: San Jose Sharks vs Minnesota Wild

Date: Thursday, March 28, 2024

Location: Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN

TV: Bally Sports North

Odds/Point Spread: Sharks (+240) Wild (-305)

The San Jose Sharks (16-47-8) are on their way to Xcel Energy Center on Thursday where they will try to beat the Minnesota Wild (34-28-9). The moneyline on this matchup has the Sharks at +240 and the Wild are at -305. The over/under is set at 7.

The San Jose Sharks will need a bounce back game after taking a 6-3 defeat against the Stars in their previous game. The Sharks had a middle of the road offensive outing in this loss. In the outing, they were able to notch a goal on 3 out of the 20 shots they tried. Additionally, they had 3 chances with extra men on the ice and netted 1 goal. San Jose accumulated 13 penalty mins for this matchup.

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Concerning their scoring, the San Jose Sharks have notched 157 goals (32nd in the NHL) this year and have given up 286. For the current campaign, they have scored 40 points and their points percentage is .282. San Jose has compiled 176 power play chances and they have tallied 37 goals out of those attempts, garnering them a rate of 21.02%. At even strength, the Sharks have given up 229 goals while having 120 themselves. San Jose has taken 1,816 shots and has a shooting percentage of 8.7%. The Sharks have had 2,487 shots attempted against them and have earned a save percentage of .885. San Jose Sharks opponents have tallied 224 power play opportunities (12th in the league) and have a total of 57 goals in those attempts.

The man protecting the goal in this game is Mackenzie Blackwood. Opponents have been able to score 544 goals versus Blackwood in his pro career and his goals against average per contest is 3.08. Blackwood has been involved in 189 games over the course of his professional hockey career. His save percentage currently is at .904 for his 10,583 minutes between the pipes. He has amassed a record of 74-77-21 and was named the starter in 177 games. For his professional hockey career, Blackwood has accrued 93 quality starts and his quality starts percentage is .525. Blackwood has seen 5,649 shot attempts taken against him and he has 5,105 saves.

In their last contest, Minnesota played the Blues in a game where the Wild ended up taking the loss by a score of 5-4. They had 1 power play chance in this contest but were not able to net one. The Wild earned 4 goals out of the 34 shots on goal they took.

The Wild have accumulated 166 goals at even strength and 51 goals (10th in professional hockey) while on the power play. Minnesota has attempted 2,138 shots (21st in the league) and has a shooting percentage of 10.15%, while allowing their opponents 2,120 shots. For the season, the Minnesota Wild have tallied 217 goals, 77 points, and a points percentage of .542. They have allowed 227 goals to be scored by of a combination of 167 goals at even strength and 60 goals while they had less men on the ice. They have a tally of 238 chances on the power play and they have accumulated a power play percentage of 21.43%. They have accumulated a penalty kill percentage of 74.36% on their opponents 234 power play chances, and their save percentage currently comes in at 89.3%.

Across the rink you are likely to see Marc-Andre Fleury defending the net. His opposition is averaging 2.59 goals per game and he has surrendered 2,549 goals overall. Fleury's percentage of quality starts sits at 55.1% and he has qualified for 474 quality starting assignments in his pro career. He got the starting nod in 860 games and has been on the ice for 59,040 minutes. Fleury has a lifetime record of 560-327-96 and has participated in 1,021 games. He has recorded 26,489 saves out of 29,038 shots attempted against him, giving him a save percentage of .912.

Who will win tonight's NHL game against the spread or moneyline?

Tony's Pick: Take San Jose (+240)

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