Minnesota Wild (4-1) vs San Jose Sharks (2-3)
Game Info: Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 8:00 pm (Xcel Energy Center)
Betting Odds: Minnesota Wild -157 / San Jose Sharks +135 --- Over/Under: 6.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The San Jose Sharks and the Minnesota Wild meet in NHL action from Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.
The San Jose Sharks will look to bounce back from a 4-1 loss to Minnesota last time out. Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks with 6 points coming on 3 goals and 3 assists while Evander Kane and Logan Couture each have 4 points with Couture logging 2 goals and 2 assists while Kane has a goal and 3 helpers. Brent Burns and Timo Meier each have 3 points with a goal and two assists, with Burns leading the Sharks in shots on goal with 19 this season. Martin Jones and Devan Dubnyk each have 3 appearances this season, with Dubnyk posting a 3.23 GAA without a win while Jones has a 2-1 record with a 3.08 GAA this season.
The Minnesota Wild will try to grab another win over the Sharks here after their win last time out. Joel Eriksson Ek, Joel Greenway and Kirill Kaprizov each have 5 points with Eriksson Ek logging 3 goals and 2 assists while Greenway and Kaprizov each posting a goal and 3 assists. Brent Suter also has 3 assists for the Wild while Matt Dumba has 3 points of his own coming on 2 goals and an assist. Cam Talbot has a 2-1 record in goal for Minnesota with a 2.34 GAA while Kaapo Kahkonen has a 2-0 record with a 1.20 GAA on the year.
San Jose is 2-8 in their last 10 road games and 0-6 in their last 6 Sunday games while the over is 5-2 in their last 7 games overall. Minnesota is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall and 7-2 in their last 9 games against a team with a losing record while the under is 19-7-1 in their last 27 Sunday games. San Jose is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings between these two teams.
I’m still convinced that San Jose just had a down year last year, because I’m stubborn in refusing to believe that a team with Logan Couture, Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Tomas Hertl, Martin Jones and Kevin Labanc can miss the playoffs with a 24-team field like we had in the bubble last season. This team is too talented to struggle like that again this time around and I think a stigma from last year is going to give us value on the Sharks like in this spot. I don’t think the Wild should be this heavily favored when the talent level is almost equal and I’d give the Sharks the goaltending advantage with Martin Jones over Cam Talbot. Give me the Sharks and the plus money here.
Chris’s Pick San Jose +135
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg