Erik Karlsson’s offensive surge has been guiding the San Jose Sharks to new heights this season, as the Swede became the fifth defenseman in NHL history to record an assist in 14 straight games with three helpers in San Jose’s 7-2 victory over Edmonton on Tuesday. The triumph was the Sharks’ fourth straight win but they’ll go up against an even hotter team, the Vegas Golden Knights, tonight. Sportsbooks opened the Knights as -125 home faves with a total of 5.5.
- The total has gone OVER in five of the Sharks’ last seven games vs the Golden Knights (avg. combined score: 6.0).
- The Golden Knights are 9-2 SU in their last 11 games as home favorites.
- The Sharks are 1-6 SU and ATS in their last seven games on the road vs teams with winning records.
Sharks vs Golden Knights Game Center
Sharks’ power play has been nearly unstoppable
After starting slow with seven assists through 18 games, Karlsson now sits with three goals and 41 points overall and 24 during his historic streak. Karlsson and Brent Burns are carrying the depleted blue-line corps due to injuries to Marc-Edouard Vlasic (undisclosed) and Justin Braun (knee). The Sharks’ power play has been fantastic of late, as San Jose is 7-for-16 with the man advantage in its past five games with Karlsson recording a power-play assist in each tilt.
The Golden Knights have won seven straight after their 4-2 triumph over the New York Rangers on Tuesday in a game in which goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury picked up his league-leading 25th win. Vegas easily topped San Jose 6-0 in the first meeting between the teams this season on November 24. In his career vs the Sharks, Fleury is 8-3-3 with a 2.04 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. The veteran goalie is slated to get the start for the Knights tonight.
OVER is scorching-hot in this series
The OVER is trending when the Sharks and Golden Knights collide. In the past seven meetings between the clubs, the OVER is 5-2 with an average combined score of six goals. The OVER has also paid out in five of San Jose’s previous six games overall with an average combined score of 8.3 goals.
San Jose hasn’t had any issue getting the job done away from home vs divisional foes. In their past 19 road games against Pacific Division opponents, the Sharks are a solid 14-5 SU. Take that trend with a grain of salt, however, as the Sharks are 1-6 SU and ATS in their last seven road contests against teams with winning records.
My pick: take the OVER
These teams have been on absolute tears of late and have had no issues putting the puck in the net, and I’m not expecting that to change tonight. The Sharks and Golden Knights’ penchant for going OVER the total, combined with their recent offensive tears, leads me to believe we could see some fireworks yet again in this matchup.
