We were able to sit back and relax last night as the Caps, to no surprise, remained en fuego and dismantled the Panthers en route to paying us on our 15 unit play.
That's a 17.25 uptick in the roll fellas. Let's make a note to keep an eye on the Mike Green situation out there as he got banged up and is an essential cog in the Capitas' machine. Update: he is suspended for 3 games keep this in mind when handicapping the Caps this week.
Let's head out to the Shark Tank tonight as the San Jose Sharks play host to the Minnesota Wild.
Have you ever seen the Movie "Into the Wild?". The scene where Emile Hirsch realized he ate the poison plants and won't be able to make it back to society before he dies is just sad. Look for a simiar discouraging look by midway through the 2nd period on the faces of Minnesota's payers when they are being clobbered by the NHL's best and most complete team.
First off in our analysis is each team's home and away records. Heading to the Shark Pit is a tough task for any team as San Jose holds an 18-4-7 record at home. Not very gracious hosts at all.
First glance at Minnesota's record might make you not want to bet against them - they hold a 27-23-4 record, not too bad. In any sport you have your teams that specialize in winning at home and stink on the road. This describes Minnesota as they hold a very respectable 18-6-2 home record but stink it up on the road with a 9-17-2 record.
Let's check out special teams.
San Jose's powerplay unit is among the tops in the leage converting at 22%, Minnesota's penalty killing unit is a little bit above average at 83%.
The Wild have an anemic 21st ranked power play unit converting at a sluggish 17.1% and the Sharks penalty killing unit is tops overall in the league as they dig in and kill off penalties 88% of the time.
Can you say special teams mismatch?
There is one X factor in this game that I love. San Jose's game against Chicago the other night was a huge matchup in terms of the struggle for power in the West. The Sharks dropped it in gut wrenching fashion as they came out of the gate slow, were getting smoked 3-0, fought back to tie it up at 3-3 and lost 4-3 on a late Chicago goal. Many people might look at this and want to stay away from the Sharks as this game could be one of those ones that really discourages a team.
The way they lost though speaks volumes to me about them as a team. They did get off to a rough start but showed a ton of heart to come back and tie up that game. This kind of spirit, combined with arguably the most talent in the league is just something to like.
I think that this a response game for the Sharks. They lost that big matchup the other night in front of their fans and they will be looking to please their loyals against a horrible road team. I don't believe there is blatant cheating in the NHL but let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if the Sharks got a few "home ice calls" from their refs.
So, let's make a mathematical equation of it.
Great Home team+Loaded Roster+ all the motivation in the world to win+ great special teams vs horrible road team=mismatch, handicapping spot.
I'd also bet this one early as +140 is a sexy line for this kind of matchup and with it being Saturday night and the Sharks being as popular as they are this could get hit hard today.
10 Unit play here. Get on it and sit back and smile as your friends tell you their tales of woe handicapping hoops today and you cash at a nice price.
As always best of luck today fellas.
-Steve
That's a 17.25 uptick in the roll fellas. Let's make a note to keep an eye on the Mike Green situation out there as he got banged up and is an essential cog in the Capitas' machine. Update: he is suspended for 3 games keep this in mind when handicapping the Caps this week.
Let's head out to the Shark Tank tonight as the San Jose Sharks play host to the Minnesota Wild.
Have you ever seen the Movie "Into the Wild?". The scene where Emile Hirsch realized he ate the poison plants and won't be able to make it back to society before he dies is just sad. Look for a simiar discouraging look by midway through the 2nd period on the faces of Minnesota's payers when they are being clobbered by the NHL's best and most complete team.
First off in our analysis is each team's home and away records. Heading to the Shark Pit is a tough task for any team as San Jose holds an 18-4-7 record at home. Not very gracious hosts at all.
First glance at Minnesota's record might make you not want to bet against them - they hold a 27-23-4 record, not too bad. In any sport you have your teams that specialize in winning at home and stink on the road. This describes Minnesota as they hold a very respectable 18-6-2 home record but stink it up on the road with a 9-17-2 record.
Let's check out special teams.
San Jose's powerplay unit is among the tops in the leage converting at 22%, Minnesota's penalty killing unit is a little bit above average at 83%.
The Wild have an anemic 21st ranked power play unit converting at a sluggish 17.1% and the Sharks penalty killing unit is tops overall in the league as they dig in and kill off penalties 88% of the time.
Can you say special teams mismatch?
There is one X factor in this game that I love. San Jose's game against Chicago the other night was a huge matchup in terms of the struggle for power in the West. The Sharks dropped it in gut wrenching fashion as they came out of the gate slow, were getting smoked 3-0, fought back to tie it up at 3-3 and lost 4-3 on a late Chicago goal. Many people might look at this and want to stay away from the Sharks as this game could be one of those ones that really discourages a team.
The way they lost though speaks volumes to me about them as a team. They did get off to a rough start but showed a ton of heart to come back and tie up that game. This kind of spirit, combined with arguably the most talent in the league is just something to like.
I think that this a response game for the Sharks. They lost that big matchup the other night in front of their fans and they will be looking to please their loyals against a horrible road team. I don't believe there is blatant cheating in the NHL but let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if the Sharks got a few "home ice calls" from their refs.
So, let's make a mathematical equation of it.
Great Home team+Loaded Roster+ all the motivation in the world to win+ great special teams vs horrible road team=mismatch, handicapping spot.
I'd also bet this one early as +140 is a sexy line for this kind of matchup and with it being Saturday night and the Sharks being as popular as they are this could get hit hard today.
10 Unit play here. Get on it and sit back and smile as your friends tell you their tales of woe handicapping hoops today and you cash at a nice price.
As always best of luck today fellas.
-Steve
