Minnesota Wild at San Jose Sharks - 3/31/21 NHL Picks and Prediction
Photo by Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
San Jose Sharks (14-16-4) vs Minnesota Wild (21-10-2)
Game Info: Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 10:30 pm (SAP Center at San Jose)
Betting Odds: San Jose Sharks +140 / Minnesota Wild -155 --- Over/Under: 5.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Minnesota Wild and the San Jose Sharks meet in NHL action from the SAP Center on Wednesday night.
The Minnesota Wild will look to rebound from a 4-3 loss to the Sharks in their last matchup. Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild in scoring with 27 points including 11 goals and 16 assists while Mats Zuccarello and Joel Greenway each have 5 goals and 16 assists of their own for their 21 points this season. Joel Eriksson Ek each have 17 points with double-digit goal tallies as well this season. As a team, Minnesota is averaging 2.9 goals on 29.2 shots per game with a 9.7 conversion rate on the power play while allowiung 2.4 goals on 30.2 shots with an 85.7% success rate killing off penalties this season.
The San Jose Sharks will try to build off of their win over the Wild last time out. Evander Kane leads the Sharks in scoring with 30 points including team-highs of 14 goals and 16 assists while Logan Couture has 23 points with 14 goals as well this season. Timo Meier sits at 21 points with 6 goals and 15 assists while Kevin Labanc’s on 20 points with 12 apples as is Tomas Hertl whose 20 points are split between 10 goals and 10 assists this season. Brent Burns, Ryna Donato and Mario Ferraro each have double-digit assists as well this season. As a team, San Jose is averaging 2.6 goals on 29.5 shots with an 18.5% success rate on the PP while allowing 3.4 goals on 32.4 shots with a 79.5% kill rate on the PK this season.
Minnesota is 8-3 in their last 11 games overall and 0-4 in their last 4 road games while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games as a road favorite. San Jose is 19-40 in their last 59 games as an underdog and 3-11 in their last 14 games following a win while the over is 12-5 in their last 17 Wednesday games. Minnesota is 3-7 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams.
It’s hard to really get a feel for this one as the two sides have traded wins back and forth this season. However one thing that’s not hard to find here is the puck in the back of the net as the last three games have combined for 23 goals, a total of 7.6 per game. I think with San Jose’s tendency of giving up goals and Minnesota’s goaltending being up and down in the last few games, the over has a good shot of hitting again here.
Chris’s Pick Over 5.5
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
Mitch's Take...
