Stanley Cup Betting Preview: San Jose Sharks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Game 2 Odds

The San Jose Sharks will be looking to even the 2016 Stanley Cup Final at 1-1 with a road victory in Game 2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

The Sharks were the best team in the NHL away from home during the regular season, and they are listed as +115 underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark for Wednesday night, with the Penguins sitting as -135 favorites (bet $135 to win $100) as they look for a 2-0 series lead.

Game 1 on Monday was a close battle decided in the final minutes when Pittsburgh’s Nick Bonino scored the winning goal at the 17:27 mark of the third period. The Pens had gotten off to a fast start with the first two goals of the game in the first period from Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary before the Sharks fought back with two in the second from Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau to even the score.

San Jose had been involved in three consecutive high-scoring games that flew over the total against the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Final, according to the Odds Shark NHL Database, before seeing the under cash in the series opener. The under is 2-0 in Pittsburgh’s last two games following a 4-0-1 over run.

Goaltender Martin Jones was outstanding between the pipes for the Sharks despite taking the loss, as he made 38 saves compared to 24 for counterpart Matt Murray. Jones has not suffered consecutive losses in the postseason since dropping two in a row on the road versus the Nashville Predators in the second round after San Jose led that series 2-0.

That is the longest losing streak for the Sharks since they lost three in a row at home from March 22-26, with them going 17-9 over their last 26 games.

The Penguins have been even better lately, going 21-7 in their past 28 games. The rookie Murray has stepped up in place of former starter Marc-Andre Fleury, who has started only one game in the playoffs after dealing with post-concussion symptoms toward the end of the regular season.

Murray is 12-4 this postseason and 21-6-1 overall in his first year.