The SAP Center will play host to an East-West tilt as the San Jose Sharks welcome the visiting New York Islanders. It’s the final time that the two clubs will meet in the regular season. The match gets started at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 20 and it can be viewed live on NBC Sports California.
New York Islanders at San Jose Sharks Odds
New York (+190) is playing the role of underdog to San Jose (-230), and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals. The line for betting the total stands at -110 money on the over and -110 on the under.
The Sharks are 3-4 straight up (SU) and have lost 3.3 units for moneyline bettors thus far. That early-season winning percentage is a regression from the 45-37 record that the team managed during the 2017-18 season campaign. Through seven regular season outings, four of its games have gone under the total, while three have gone over and none have pushed. This year, the team’s 1-1 SU at home.
San Jose has successfully converted on 17.9 percent of its power play opportunities thus far. That’s a big drop-off from last year, when it was ranked 13th in the league by scoring on 21.1 percent of its extra-man chances. Its penalty kill has fallen off noticeably year-over-year as it’s gone from successfully defending 84.2 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked second overall last season) to 81.8 percent this year.
As a collective unit, San Jose has been penalized 4.9 times per game this season, a number that’s climbed from the 3.4 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.3 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to stave off opponent power plays for 10.4 minutes per matchup this season.
Averaging 22.4 saves per game with a .896 save percentage, Martin Jones (2-3) has been the most dependable goalkeeper for the Sharks this year. If they choose to give him a breather, however, head coach Peter Deboer could go with Aaron Dell (1-1-1 record, .917 save percentage, 2.49 goals against average).
Evander Kane and Brent Burns will both spearhead the attack for the Sharks. Kane (seven points) has tallied four goals and three assists while Burns has six assists to his credit so far in the season’s early going.
On the other bench, New York is 3-3 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 1.6 units this season. A total of three of its matches have gone over the total, while another three have gone under the total and none have pushed. As the away team so far, New York is 2-2 SU.
New York’s scored on 21.1 percent of its power play chances this year after converting on 23.2 percent of its extra-man opportunities in 2017-18 (when the team ranked seventh in the league in that category). The team’s gone from killing off 73.2 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 31st overall last season) to 70.6 percent this year.
New York’s skaters have been penalized 3.3 times per game this season, a number that’s fairly close to the 3.4 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 7.8 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 7.2 minutes per outing this season.
Thomas Greiss (22.5 saves per game) has been the primary choice in the net for New York. Greiss owns a 2-2 record, and has registered a .918 save percentage and 2.60 goals against average this year.
Mathew Barzal (one goal, six assists) has been one of the top offensive facilitators for the visiting Islanders.
New York Islanders at San Jose Sharks Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Sharks, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Notes
The under has hit in three of San Jose’s last five games.
New York has managed 27.3 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while San Jose is averaging 36.0 shots per game over its last five home outings.
The Sharks are 2-1 SU when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Islanders are 1-1 SU in games where they serve more minutes than the opposition.
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