NHL Playoff Betting Preview: Sharks and Blackhawks
While the Eastern Conference playoffs have gone to the dogs, the Western Conference has played out as one might expect with the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks the last two teams standing.
This has been one of the most dramatic and surprising playoffs in the history of the NHL. But the insanity wing appears to have been reserved for the Eastern Conference.
Things are abnormally normal out West, where the top two seeds have advanced all the way to the conference final. Either the No. 1 San Jose Sharks or the No. 2 Chicago Blackhawks will be playing for the Stanley Cup this year.
The betting odds say this is going to be a close one. The Sharks are slim 130 favorites on the series price; Chicago will only pay out at plus 110, despite not having home-ice advantage and struggling at times to put away the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks in the first two rounds.
Here’s the tale of the tape:
Sharks regular season: 51-20-11, 113 points
20.85 units ATS (No. 1 of 30)
3.13 goals per game (No. 4)
2.55 goals against per game (No. 8)
21.0 percent power play (No. 4)
85.0 percent penalty kill (No. 4)
Sharks playoffs: 8-3
-5.62 units ATS (No. 15 of 16)
3.09 goals per game (No. 8)
2.55 goals against per game (No. 2)
19.3 percent power play (No. 9)
84.2 percent penalty kill (No. 4)
Blackhawks regular season: 52-22-8, 112 points
7.55 units ATS (No. 11)
3.20 goals per game (No. 3)
2.48 goals against per game (No. 5)
17.7 percent power play (No. 16)
85.0 percent penalty kill (No. 4)
Blackhawks playoffs: 8-4
5.33 units ATS (No. 2)
3.33 goals per game (No. 3)
2.75 goals against per game (No. 4)
21.6 percent power play (No. 6)
88.7 percent penalty kill (No. 2)
If you’ve been betting the puck line, the Sharks have taken a bite out of that massive profit they made you during the regular season. Six of their eight postseason victories were by a single goal, including all four of their wins over the Detroit Red Wings (three of those at home) in the second round. The Colorado Avalanche took San Jose to overtime on three occasions; Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson still leads the league with a .933 playoff save percentage, holding the Sharks to just five goals on 26 power-play opportunities.
Chicago’s path to the Western final proved to be much smoother than anticipated. Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo experienced a meltdown in the second round (partly due to a rash of injuries on the blueline) and finished the playoffs with an .895 save percentage, down from .913 during the regular season. The Blackhawks scored seven power play goals in 28 chances to awaken what had been an average unit at best during the regular season.
Spending all that time in your opponent’s zone is a great way to take pressure off a rookie goaltender. Just as he did against Nashville in the first round, Antti Niemi (.909 SV%) played three outstanding games and three substandard games against Vancouver.
The Blackhawks scored four times on the power play (three by Jonathan Toews) to bail out Niemi in Game 4 and secure a timely 7-4 victory at GM Place that put Chicago (+118) up 3-1 in the series. The Sharks were eighth in the league in penalty minutes this year; the Hawks were No. 25.
Evgeni Nabokov (.907 SV%) has taken his lumps in these playoffs, too, but he’s been good for the Sharks far more often than bad. Nabokov is coming off the best regular season of his 10-year career with San Jose (.922 SV%). He has 76 NHL playoff games under his suspenders; Niemi has just these 12. There is something to be said for experience, even if this postseason has been defined by amazing rookie performances. Niemi is the first Chicago goalie since Tony Esposito to post two shutouts in the same playoff year. That’s some pretty elite company.
Both teams are enjoying good health going into this series; the only person missing is Chicago defenseman Kim Johnsson (concussion), a quality defenseman who came over from the Minnesota Wild in February. The Hawks could have used him.
San Jose is loaded with talent at both ends of the ice and played with poise against the Red Wings. Chicago is also immensely talented, but didn’t always have its head screwed on straight against the Canucks. That has to get taken care of by Game 1 (time and date TBA) if the Hawks are going to advance.
While the Eastern Conference playoffs have gone to the dogs, the Western Conference has played out as one might expect with the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks the last two teams standing.
This has been one of the most dramatic and surprising playoffs in the history of the NHL. But the insanity wing appears to have been reserved for the Eastern Conference.
Things are abnormally normal out West, where the top two seeds have advanced all the way to the conference final. Either the No. 1 San Jose Sharks or the No. 2 Chicago Blackhawks will be playing for the Stanley Cup this year.
The betting odds say this is going to be a close one. The Sharks are slim 130 favorites on the series price; Chicago will only pay out at plus 110, despite not having home-ice advantage and struggling at times to put away the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks in the first two rounds.
Here’s the tale of the tape:
Sharks regular season: 51-20-11, 113 points
20.85 units ATS (No. 1 of 30)
3.13 goals per game (No. 4)
2.55 goals against per game (No. 8)
21.0 percent power play (No. 4)
85.0 percent penalty kill (No. 4)
Sharks playoffs: 8-3
-5.62 units ATS (No. 15 of 16)
3.09 goals per game (No. 8)
2.55 goals against per game (No. 2)
19.3 percent power play (No. 9)
84.2 percent penalty kill (No. 4)
Blackhawks regular season: 52-22-8, 112 points
7.55 units ATS (No. 11)
3.20 goals per game (No. 3)
2.48 goals against per game (No. 5)
17.7 percent power play (No. 16)
85.0 percent penalty kill (No. 4)
Blackhawks playoffs: 8-4
5.33 units ATS (No. 2)
3.33 goals per game (No. 3)
2.75 goals against per game (No. 4)
21.6 percent power play (No. 6)
88.7 percent penalty kill (No. 2)
If you’ve been betting the puck line, the Sharks have taken a bite out of that massive profit they made you during the regular season. Six of their eight postseason victories were by a single goal, including all four of their wins over the Detroit Red Wings (three of those at home) in the second round. The Colorado Avalanche took San Jose to overtime on three occasions; Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson still leads the league with a .933 playoff save percentage, holding the Sharks to just five goals on 26 power-play opportunities.
Chicago’s path to the Western final proved to be much smoother than anticipated. Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo experienced a meltdown in the second round (partly due to a rash of injuries on the blueline) and finished the playoffs with an .895 save percentage, down from .913 during the regular season. The Blackhawks scored seven power play goals in 28 chances to awaken what had been an average unit at best during the regular season.
Spending all that time in your opponent’s zone is a great way to take pressure off a rookie goaltender. Just as he did against Nashville in the first round, Antti Niemi (.909 SV%) played three outstanding games and three substandard games against Vancouver.
The Blackhawks scored four times on the power play (three by Jonathan Toews) to bail out Niemi in Game 4 and secure a timely 7-4 victory at GM Place that put Chicago (+118) up 3-1 in the series. The Sharks were eighth in the league in penalty minutes this year; the Hawks were No. 25.
Evgeni Nabokov (.907 SV%) has taken his lumps in these playoffs, too, but he’s been good for the Sharks far more often than bad. Nabokov is coming off the best regular season of his 10-year career with San Jose (.922 SV%). He has 76 NHL playoff games under his suspenders; Niemi has just these 12. There is something to be said for experience, even if this postseason has been defined by amazing rookie performances. Niemi is the first Chicago goalie since Tony Esposito to post two shutouts in the same playoff year. That’s some pretty elite company.
Both teams are enjoying good health going into this series; the only person missing is Chicago defenseman Kim Johnsson (concussion), a quality defenseman who came over from the Minnesota Wild in February. The Hawks could have used him.
San Jose is loaded with talent at both ends of the ice and played with poise against the Red Wings. Chicago is also immensely talented, but didn’t always have its head screwed on straight against the Canucks. That has to get taken care of by Game 1 (time and date TBA) if the Hawks are going to advance.