Overview
The San Jose Sharks head out east to the Amalie Arena in Florida where they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. These two teams don’t play each other often just once or twice a year but Tampa Bay has not done well versus the Sharks over the past 7 or 8 years winning just 2 of the last 10 meetings.
Head to Head Trends
Over is 7-0 in the last 7 meetings.
Sharks are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings.
Tampa Bay Lightning (-140)
The Tampa Bay Lightning are 1st in the Atlantic Division 1 point ahead of the Montreal Canadians. The Lightning actually started the season with just 3 wins through their first 6 games but then they really stepped it up a notch winning 8 of their next 10 games with the two losses coming at Chicago and Minnesota which are two very hard city’s to win in. The Lightning are the second highest scoring team in the NHL averaging 3.8 goals per game and that goes up to 4.2 goals per game when they are at home. They also have a pretty solid defense allowing 2.8 goals per game and that also gets better at home dropping down to 2.3 goals per game.
Tampa Bay Lightning Trends
Lightning are 37-18 in their last 55 vs. a team with a losing record.
Lightning are 6-1 in their last 7 overall.
San Jose Sharks (+125)
The San Jose Sharks are 5th in the Pacific Division 7 games back of the 1st place Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks got off to a decent start this season winning 3 of their first 4 games but since then they have won just 4 of their last 12 games and looked pretty bad losing to some of the worst teams in the league. The Sharks average 3.0 goals per game on offense and 2.9 goals per game on defense which are some ok numbers but not where a top team should be. I think part of the reason for this mediocre start for the Sharks is that only 5 of their 17 games so far this season have been at home so they still have 3 more road games before going back home for 11 of their their next 13 games and then we should have a good idea what this team is all about.
San Jose Sharks Trends
Sharks are 4-10 in their last 14 games playing on 1 days rest.
Sharks are 2-7 in their last 9 in the fourth game of a 4-in-6 situation.
Conclusion
I like the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Sharks in this one. The Lightning are probably one of the top 3 teams in the entire NHL especially at home and plus I really don’t like what I’ve seen out of the Sharks so far this season.
Free Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning -140
