Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks Odds, Pick & Prediction: April 13th 2010

Colorado Avalanche vs. San Jose Sharks
Free NHL Pick: San Jose Sharks -240 odds
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The Sharks are the biggest favorite on the Wednesday hockey board. However, I feel that the price could easily be even higher. One of the things keeping the price in somewhat reasonable territory (It’s still very expensive but teams like Washington and Chicago are currently laying even more on Thursday) is the fact that the Sharks have a less than stellar playoff history. Indeed, seemingly every year they enter the playoffs as one of the favorites, only to get upset in one of the opening rounds. That’s all in the past though and I believe this will prove to be a very favorable matchup for them.

While that history is helping to keep the line down, (slightly) I expect it to have a motivating effect on the Sharks. They lost last year’s playoff opener (2-0 loss to Anaheim) and ended up losing the series. They know that they absolutely cannot afford to get behind the eight ball again.

The Sharks won 27 of 41 home games this season. On the other hand, the Avalanche won 19 of 41 road games. Colorado got off to a very quick start this season but has been largely mediocre ever since. The Sharks had a couple of tough stretches, but were mostly dominant for the entire season.

The Avs can score goals. However, they don’t score as many as the Sharks. San Jose finished with an average of 3.2 goals per game, including a whopping 3.5 per game at home. Colorado finished with 3.0 per game, including 2.9 on the road. The Sharks averaged 33.6 shots per game at home. The Avs averaged a mere 25.8 on the road.

The Sharks also have the edge in terms of goals against. San Jose limited opponents to 2.6 goals per game, including just 2.4 at home. Colorado allowed an average of 2.8, including 3.1 on the road.

Some may suggest that the Avs have the advantage in goal. I don’t believe that’s the case though. Yes, Anderson had a strong season. However, he wasn’t great down the stretch and San Jose’s Nabakov is coming off arguably his best season. The Sharks’ netminder finished second in the league in wins (44), 6th in save percentage (.922) and 10th in goals-against-average (2.43).

The home team won all four regular season meetings. Including their two wins here, the Sharks are now 4-0 the last four times that they hosted the Avs. Looking back further and we find them at 6-1 the last seven times that they were a host in this series and 10-3 the last 13. I expect them to win both the opening game and the series. Consider laying the wood.