LiontipsSt. Louis vs. San Jose. NHL Match Prediction and Bets
Command Analysis
Current form
St. Louis is unlikely to be able to compete for anything serious this season, but it has already shown that it intends to fight for a spot in the playoffs. The team currently occupies the tenth position in the Western Conference and has 30 points. However, it has not been able to get on a winning streak lately, and continues to alternate successful matches with defeats. Thus, on the road, the “Notes” recently dealt with Winnipeg (4:1) and Calgary (4:3 OT), and after an unsuccessful match against Edmonton (2:4), they pulled themselves together again and proved their superiority over Vancouver with a score of 4:3 in overtime.
There is no denying the fact that with the arrival of head coach Jim Montgomery, things started to go uphill for the club, and it began to please its fans much more often than before. In addition, the team improved the implementation of moments, thanks to which it began to show decent efficiency and score an average of at least three goals per match.
St. Louis is gradually working on its power play, as it has already reached 23rd place in this indicator and currently has a power play conversion rate of 17.9%. However, starting the game with maximum concentration is one of the team main problems, which remains to this day, since in the opening period it has a ratio of 19:27 in goals scored and goals conceded.
Disqualifications and injuries
Krug and Leddy will not play in the upcoming match due to injury
Interesting trends for betting
- St. Louis gets 7.45 penalty minutes per game.
"Notes" are removed on average at least four times per game
- St. Louis currently has a 77.6% power play neutralization rate.
According to this indicator, the club occupies 21st position in the championship
Current form
San Jose is clearly looking better this season than last year. At least the team is no longer a clear underdog and has moved away from the last line of the standings, where it spent almost the entire previous season. From time to time, the Sharks have good stretches and not long ago were able to win three victories in a row, having sorted out the final match with Washington (2:1 OT). However, after this victory, they faced a series of three defeats, which they are currently on. Let us recall that within this series of away matches, the Sharks lost to Tampa (1:8), Florida (1:3), and also missed out on a victory in the last meeting with Carolina - 2:3.
By the way, they gave the victory to the Hurricanes literally in the final minutes of the third period. Nevertheless, the team looked very decent, especially considering the fact that before the match they were considered a clear underdog. That day was also successful for Luke Canin, who broke his goal "silence" and immediately fired a double.
Overall, Ryan Warsofsky team has been playing rather poorly on the road this year, having managed to win only two victories in regulation time in 18 games played. San Jose has a strong attack line and takes advantage of its chances well, but at the same time it is one of the league most conceding clubs and often allows its opponent to score at least three or four times.
Disqualifications and injuries
Smith, Couture and Vlasik will not play in the upcoming meeting due to injury
Interesting trends for betting
- San Jose has a 17-41 record in goals scored and allowed in the first period.
The Sharks have a poor first twenty minutes and almost always concede in it
- The Sharks are averaging 27 shots on goal.
San Jose plays second fiddle and rarely threatens the opponent goal
Trends
Bet 1st period: total over 1.5 goals
In the last two matches between the teams, the first period was productive
1.85Bet 2nd period: guests will score
St. Louis has conceded in the second period in its last three games.
1.60Tip and bets
San Jose may cause serious problems for their opponent in the upcoming match. St. Louis is certainly in good shape and has often won recently, but most of its victories have been by one goal or outside of regulation time. Plus, previous meetings between the clubs were tense and also ended in overtime or shootouts. Moreover, the teams met not so long ago, and then the Sharks gave a worthy fight, so, in our opinion, they should not lose by a big margin now.
Prediction - San Jose win with Asian handicap (+1) on goals for 1.85
Bet on individual total
St. Louis has adopted a more closed style of play since Jim Montgomery took over as head coach. In four of their previous five games, the Blues have also failed to score more than three goals. San Jose, in turn, has allowed fewer than four goals in four of their five games against the Blues. This game will be sticky, just like last time, and we don’t think the hosts will have many opportunities to score.
We bet on the individual total of St. Louis under 3.5 goals with a coefficient of 1.70
Total Bet
We are inclined to think that this match will not be particularly productive. San Jose has played its last matches with a minimum number of goals scored, if you do not take into account the disastrous match against Tampa. St. Louis, in turn, began to pay much more attention to defense, so many matches now also end with fewer than six goals scored. We think that the scenario of this confrontation will be similar to the previous match between the teams, so we suggest betting on the total under.
We take the total under 5.5 pucks for 2.05
