It wasn’t the best start to the season for San Jose as they recovered from a lengthy playoff run last year, but the Sharks seem to be putting things together heading into the November 25th NHL betting free pick. Despite climbing in the ranks to 5th in the Pacific, San Jose is still just a -110 toss up when they visit the Kings on Monday. The Sharks aren’t on a back-to-back and aren’t dealing with any super major injuries – so is San Jose just a trap here?
Sharks Look to Keep Rolling
After a 5-game losing streak that had them near the bottom of the Western Conference, the Sharks have gone 8-1 in their last 9. That includes coming into Monday’s game with consecutive OT wins including a big 2-1 victory in Vegas on Thursday as +165 underdogs.
One of the reasons that the Sharks and Kings are both -110 in the November 25th NHL free betting pick is despite their recent success, San Jose hasn’t been dominant. 4 of their 8 wins over this stretch have come in OT and three were when the Sharks scored just 2 goals. The Sharks have 6 goals total over the last three. San Jose is also without Tomas Hertl on Monday and the C had scored 6 goals in the 8 games prior. Logan Couture has scored in consecutive games though.
When the offense isn’t dominant and the team still gets wins, that means the San Jose defense is holding their own heading into the November 25th NHL free betting pick. Martin Jones allowed just 1 goal on 28 shots on Saturday which followed Aaron Dell stopping 37 of 38 Vegas SOG last Thursday. Jones gets the start vs. the Kings and has won 7 of his last 8 starts while posting a 2.81 GAA over that span.
Oddsmakers Like Kings Chances Here?
LA is a respectable-by-their-standards 5-4-1 over their last 10 games but still sit in last place in the Pacific and have the second fewest points in the league with just 19. That being said, Los Angeles is just -110 on Monday night in what is essentially a PK game. The big question is…why?
The Kings have played well lately, winning 4 of their last 6. Three of those wins were somewhat ‘expected’ though as -105 favorites vs. the Wild, -147 vs. Detroit, and +110 against Edmonton. Los Angeles blew a great chance to keep their momentum rolling when they dropped a 2-3 game to Arizona at home on Saturday as +105 underdogs. LA does have a 4-3 win over Vegas (+130) over the past week but the Sharks have won 5 of the last 7 head-to-head meetings.
LA can definitely win this one with the resurgent Jonathan Quick in net. He suffered a setback on Saturday allowing 2 goals on just 18 shots to Arizona. Prior to that though Quick posted 4 straight wins while allowing 3 of those opponents to 2 goals or less. Can the veteran rediscover his groove against the surging Sharks?
November 25th NHL Free Betting Pick
The Sharks seem like they should be priced -140 or higher in this one considering their impressive run as of late. Simply put, when a game seems this easy, it rarely is. Contrarian play on the Kings:
Free Pick: Los Angeles Kings -110
