Sharks vs Capitals NHL Odds, Preview & Prediction.

Sharks vs Capitals NHL Odds, Preview & Prediction

Written by on January 22, 2019

Anyone for a Sharks-Capitals Stanley Cup Finals? Could happen. San Jose makes its only scheduled trip of the season to Washington on Tuesday night. The Caps are solid NHL betting favorites at Mybookie Sportsbook because San Jose plays the second of a back-to-back.

How to Bet Sharks vs Capitals NHL Odds & Game Info

Season Series

First meeting. The Caps won both last year. It was 4-1 in Washington. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and assist as the Capitals beat the Sharks for the fourth time in 18 meetings since Ovechkin entered the league in 2005-06. It was just Washington’s second regulation win against San Jose in that time and first since Oct. 15, 2009. Martin Jones allowed four goals on 29 shots in taking the loss.

In San Jose, the Caps won 2-0. Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves and Nicklas Backstrom broke a scoreless tie late in the second period. Lars Eller’s empty-net goal sealed the win for the Capitals. Jones made 24 saves for the Sharks but couldn’t stop Backstrom’s one-timer late in the second period after Washington appeared to enter the zone offside. The Capitals had not won in regulation at San Jose since their first trip to the Shark Tank on Oct. 30, 1993, when they won 4-2. Washington had 13 losses, one tie, one overtime win, and one shootout win since then.

Why Bet on San Jose?

It’s the second of a back-to-back for the Sharks, who were in Florida on Monday. Top defenseman Erik Karlsson (lower body) didn’t play Monday and won’t Tuesday in the Sharks’ final two contests before the All-Star break.

It seems likely that Karlsson will also miss the All-Star Game given the circumstances, but the Sharks haven’t said he can’t play. “I have no idea what’s going on with that,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “I just want to get him healthy. If he’s healthy enough, I would hope he’ll play and I know he would play. Let’s cross our fingers and hope that he’s healthy enough to play.” Karlsson has three goals and 43 points in 47 games in 2018-19.

The Sharks have three players who were named to the 2019 NHL All-Star game this season, as captain Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Karlsson were chosen. had at least three players named to the All-Star game. This season, Pavelski leads the team in goals (26), Burns ranks T-fifth among NHL players in assists (43) and leads NHL defensemen in the category, while Karlsson is third in assists (40) among blueliners.

San Jose currently has two of the top three assist-producers among defensemen in the NHL in Burns (43) and Karlsson (40). Since the start of December, both defensemen have combined for 47 assists in 24 team games, logging a total of 11 multi-assist contests. Dating to the start of the 2013-14 season, the Sharks sport the leading assist and point producers among defensemen (Karlsson, 312a and 398pts; Burns 262a and 378pts). Burns and Karlsson rank first and fourth respectively in goals scored since then.

Team Stats

Offense
  • Goals: 3.53
  • Shots: 34.27
  • PP/PK Percentage: 24.49

Defense

  • Goals: 3.16
  • Shots: 28.29
  • PP/PK Percentage: 18.44

Why Bet on Washington?

The Caps are playing their worst hockey of the year on a five-game losing streak. They were 8-5 losers in Chicago on Sunday. John Carlson scored a pair of goals in the loss. Carlson scored both markers during the third period. The Capitals got all five goals from defensemen in the contest with Brooks Orpik, Dmitry Orlov, and Matt Niskanen also finding the back of the net in the match.

Braden Holtby was pulled. Holtby allowed four goals on just 11 shots in just 22:30 of action before getting the hook. Pheonix Copley stopped 14 of 17 shots in relief.

Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL with 33 goals this season as he aims to break a tie with Bobby Hull for the most seasons as the NHL’s goal-scoring leader. Both have led the League in goals on seven occasions. Ovechkin’s most recent goal, scored on Nov. 14 against the St. Louis Blues, was scored on the power play, his 238th career power-play goal. Ovechkin passed Brendan Shanahan (237) for fifth place on the all-time power-play goals list. Ovechkin is now one goal shy of passing Dave Andreychuk (640) for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list.

Sharks vs Capitals should be an easy victory for Washington.

Among the top 20 goal scorers all-time, Ovechkin’s 0.61 goals per game ranks second (Mario Lemieux: 0.75 goals per game). Ovechkin, who is already the all-time goal scorer among Russian-born players, is now six points away from passing Sergei Fedorov (483g, 696a in 1,248 games) to become the highest scoring Russian-born player all-time. Thomas Vanek (Austria), Frans Nielsen (Denmark), Antoine Roussel (France), Mats Zuccarello (Norway) and Anze Kopitar (Slovenia) are the only active players to lead their respective countries in points.

Since Nov. 4, Holtby has stopped 515 of the 549 shots he’s faced at even strength (.938 save percentage), the highest save percentage among all goaltenders with at least 15 games played during that time frame. Holtby is now seven games shy of 400 career games to become the second goaltender in franchise history to reach the mark (Olie Kolzig: 711 games).

Since entering the NHL in 2010, Holtby’s 242 wins are the fifth most in the NHL, despite being the only goaltender ranked in the top 15 with fewer than 400 games played. Since 2010, Holtby ranks 19th in games played, however, he is the only goaltender in the top 27 goaltenders in games played who has 100 losses or fewer (242-100-37).

Holtby and Copley have combined for a .929 save percentage on high danger shots they’ve faced on the penalty kill, the fourth-highest save percentage during that time frame, and an .897 save percentage overall, the sixth highest save percentage.

Team Stats

Offense
  • Goals: 3.38
  • Shots: 29.50
  • PP/PK Percentage: 20.98

Defense

  • Goals: 3.10
  • Shots: 31.96
  • PP/PK Percentage: 21.89

Sharks vs Capitals NHL Betting Trends

  • Under is 8-2-1 in the last 11 meetings in Washington
  • Road team is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings
  • San Jose is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
  • San Jose is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games on the road
  • The total has gone OVER in 6 of San Jose’s last 7 games on the road
  • Washington is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home
  • Washington is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games at home
  • The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington’s last 8 games at home

Expert NHL Betting Prediction for Sharks vs Capitals

Caps end their skid.