The Tampa Bay Lightning and the San Jose Sharks meet Saturday in NHL action from the SAP Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Tampa Bay Lightning vs. San Jose Sharks prediction.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recap
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game looking to add on to their 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings last time out to improve to 24-13-3 this season. After this game, Tampa Bay will head home for a game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Lightning Win 6 In A Row
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 54 points including 19 goals and 35 assists while Brandon Hagel has 35 points with 18 goals and 17 assists and Jake Guentzel has 41 points with 18 goals and 23 assists. Anthony Cirelli has 24 points with 11 goals and 13 assists. Darren Raddysh has also added 31 points with 9 goals and 22 assists as well on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 15-7-2 with a 2.33 GAA and a .914 save percentage while Jonas Johansson is 9-6-1 with a 2.83 GAA and an .894 save percentage this season.
Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win
- The Lightning have won each of their last six games.
- The Sharks have lost nine of their last 10 day games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- The Lightning have covered the puck line in 13 of their last 17 road games.
- The Sharks have failed to cover the puck line in three of their last four games following a home win.
Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts
- Jake Guentzel has scored the last goal in three of his last four road appearances against the Sharks.
- Nikita Kucherov has scored at least one goal in each of the Lightning’s last four games.
- Nikita Kucherov has recorded at least one assist in each of the Lightning’s last nine Saturday day road games.
- Nikita Kucherov has scored a goal in each of his last four appearances – equal-longest active streak in the league.
San Jose Sharks Recap
The San Jose Sharks come into this game looking to add on to their 4-3 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild last time out to sit at 20-17-3 this season. After this game, the Sharks will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at home.
Sharks Win 3 In A Row
Macklin Celebrini leads the Sharks in scoring with 62 points including 20 goals and 42 assists while Will Smith has 29 points with 12 goals and 17 assists this season. Tyler Toffoli has 26 points with 10 goals and 16 assists and William Eklund’s also added 26 points with 10 goals and 16 assists as well. Dmitry Orlov’s chipped in 19 assists while Alexander Wennberg’s had 26 points with 7 goals and 19 assists and Philipp Kurashev’s added 15 points with 6 goals and 9 assists as well this season. Yaroslav Askarov’s gone 15-10-1 with a 3.36 GAA and an .897 save percentage in goal for the Sharks while Alex Nedeljkovic is 5-7-2 with a 3.06 GAA and an .895 save percentage this season.
Why the San Jose Sharks will win
- The underdogs have won four of the Sharks’ last five games.
- The Lightning have lost four of their last five games as road favorites against opponents on a winning streak.
- The Sharks have covered the puck line in each of their last nine games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last five games as road favorites against opponents on a winning streak.
San Jose Sharks Player Prop Facts
- Macklin Celebrini has scored a goal in each of the Sharks’ last four games.
- Macklin Celebrini has recorded at least one assist in nine of the Sharks’ last 10 home games.
- Macklin Celebrini ranks T1st in the league for multi-assist games (12) this season.
Total Goals Facts
- Seven of the Sharks’ last eight games have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Each of the Lightning’s last four games have gone OVER the total goals line.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. San Jose Sharks Prediction
I’m on the over in this one. I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I think goals are the way to go considering the fact that we’re talking about two teams that are finding goals in bunches and the goaltending on both sides has had more than it’s fair share of ups and downs as of late. I think this game could easily be marked for 7 or 8 goals at a minimum so give me the over here.