LiontipsSan Jose vs Minnesota. NHL match prediction and bets
Command Analysis
Current form
San Jose is gradually settling in the basement of the conference table and is now unlikely to rise above 14th place in the West. The team coached by Ryan Warfovsky has only 32 points after 44 games and is already 14 points behind Vancouver, which is in eighth place. Throughout December, the Sharks demonstrated a weak level of hockey, but gradually began to recover in 2025. In early January, the hosts continued their home series of games and unexpectedly beat Tampa (2:1) and New Jersey (3:2), but after a short break, they lost to Vegas for the third time this season (2:4). The day before, the Sharks lost to Utah (1:2), although they opened the scoring in the first minute of the meeting. Mario Ferraro team held on until the very end, but conceded an annoying goal a little over a minute before the final siren.
Alexander Georgiev returned to the ice after a week-long break. The Russian appeared on the ice in games against Vegas and Utah and was unable to help his teammates achieve a positive result. Yaroslav Askarov sat on the bench in the last game, but he should start the match on January 12. The young goalie has stopped 92.31% of shots in his possessions in eight starts.
The hosts' offense is once again going through hard times. In the last five games, Mario Ferraro team has only made eight accurate shots and only once has it scored more than two times in a game. Mikael Granlund remains a key player in the Sharks' offense. The forward has made 36 effective actions (11+25) during the current regular season.
Disqualifications and injuries
Nikolay Kovalenko, Logan Couture, Vitek Vanecek and Jake Wallman will be unable to participate in the upcoming fight due to injuries. Niko Sturm is questionable.
Interesting trends for betting
- San Jose is receiving 8.09 penalty minutes per game.
On average, sharks are eliminated at least four times per game.
- San Jose averages 23 hits
The Sharks play a pretty tough brand of hockey and commit a lot of physical attacks.
Current form
Minnesota is in third place in the conference with 56 points after 42 games. John Hynes' men are gradually falling behind Winnipeg, which earned three points more, but also played 43 games. The Wild had a very weak stretch in the second half of December and lost four games in a row, but now the Wild have four wins in five starts. After away victories in the US capital (4:3, B) and Raleigh (4:0), Jordan Staal team returned home and played against St. Louis (6:4) and Colorado (1:6). The club from Minneapolis was in the game for two periods, but in the third 20-minute period it collapsed in defense and conceded three goals within five minutes.
Despite Kirill Kaprizov injury, Minnesota has been good on offense and has scored 19 goals in the last five games. Without the Russian, Marco Rossi has become the guests' main reliable player. The Austrian has scored 37 points (15+22) in goals and assists, but has not scored in the last two games. Matthew Boldy is next with 35 points (15+20).
Veteran Marc-Andre Fleury has been a regular, but Filip Gustavsson has been the Wild starting goalie. The Swede has stopped .9176% of shots on goal and two shutouts in 29 starts. He looked ugly in his last two games, so it not out of the question that we'll see the legend in net again. The Wild have struggled to play a solid defense all season and are allowing 2.79 goals per contest.
Disqualifications and injuries
Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon and Jakub Lauko will not come to California.
Interesting trends for betting
- Minnesota won only 48.2% of its faceoffs.
The Savages perform poorly at the point and often lose the puck to their opponents.
- Wild have 28 shots on target per game
The visitors don't shoot too much and spend more time in the defensive zone.
Trends
Bet 1st period: total under 1.5 goals
In five of San Jose six games, the first period was scoreless.
1.90Bet 3rd period: San Jose will score
The Sharks have scored in the third period in two of their three games.
1.60Tip and bets
San Jose is not that bad at the start of the new year. The Sharks have started to score less, but have improved in terms of reliability. Goalies Yaroslav Askarov and Alexander Georgiev have fit in well with the new team and help their partners a little more often than their predecessors. Minnesota continues to play without Kirill Kaprizov and at first the guests were carried by other leaders of the guests. In the last match, the Wild completely failed in all aspects, so we can expect a slight decline in the game for the Savages. We believe in Ryan Warfovsky charges and do not think that they will be routed on the ice of the SAP Center. We suggest betting on a positive handicap for the first.
Our prediction is San Jose win with Asian handicap (+1) for 1.77
Bet on individual total
Minnesota has been very good at creating and finishing chances, but the Minneapolis team only had one accurate shot in the last game. San Jose has clearly improved in terms of reliability and in the last five starts the red light behind the Sharks' net has come on only 13 times. Yaroslav Askarov is in excellent shape and should not fail against the Wild.
Betting Tip - Minnesota individual total under 3.5 goals for 1.58
Bet on total
Minnesota can hardly be called a productive team, because the Wild score only 2.48 goals per game on the road. San Jose has become better in defense, but the hosts have lost their former power in attack. In the six previous games involving the sharks, no more than five goals were scored, so we believe in the low-scoring nature of the upcoming match. Let play a bet on the total under.
Betting Tip - total under six goals for 1.62
