Coming off three-days rest, the San Jose Sharks head to the Windy City to try and get an easy win over the struggling Chicago Blackhawks. The ‘Hawks are a long way from their Stanley Cup years and have dropped 11 of their last 13 games to give them the second-worst record in the NHL. The Sharks, on the other hand, had a lot of hype coming into the season but have yet to put it all together although they’ve won five of their last six games.
The Sharks opened as -175 favorites with a total of 6.
- The Blackhawks are 2-11 SU in their last 13 games.
- The Sharks are allowing 3.47 goals per road game this season.
- The OVER has hit in 5 of the Blackhawks last 6 games.
Sharks vs Blackhawks Game Center
Blackhawks Not Used To Being A Basement-Dweller
The fall from grace was hard and fast for the Chicago Blackhawks and doesn’t look to be getting better anytime soon. The Blackhawks have their cap space tied up mostly into four players and may be sellers at the trade deadline as they bottom out in the standings. The ‘Hawks are an ugly 10-24 SU in 34 games this season and have lost 10 of their 16 home games in a venue that used to be automatic W for Chicago.
The Blackhawks are ranked 29th in goals allowed per game (3.74) and are getting no help offensively as they're 22nd in goals scored per game. This futility has allowed Chicago to drop 11 of its last 13 games and its only won one game in December in eight tries.
If you’re asking me to make a compelling case for why the Blackhawks can win this game, you came to the wrong place. They’re a dumpster fire and their goalies are combining to average an .890 save percentage which is a recipe for disaster and makes them the mayor of Fadesville for the foreseeable future.
Sharks Defense Has No Bite on the Road
Although no one will confuse Erik Karlsson or Brent Burns as defensive studs, when you have 14.5 million in cap space tied up for two defencemen, you would hope they either score a ton of points or are lockdown defenders in their own zone. Karlsson and Burns are combining to have a -3 plus-minus and only 52 points and while plus-minus can sometimes be a misleading stat, it still can’t be discounted. They both average over 23 minutes of ice time and the Sharks allow 3.47 goals per away game which is troubling.
To be fair, goaltender Martin Jones may need to shoulder some of that blame because, in the first two months of the season, he was struggling and allowing over three goals per game. He has settled down in December by leading San Jose to wins in four of his last six starts and has only given up 14 goals in those outings (2.33 goals against and .923 save percentage).
I like the Sharks to manhandle the Blackhawks tonight but don’t think there is much value on their moneyline so I’d go with the -1.5 puckline if you plan to back San Jose in this one.
Is the OVER a Lock?
It looks to be when the total is set at 6 and it’s mainly because of how poor the defense is between these teams. They both allow over three goals per game in this circumstance and the OVER has hit in five of the Blackhawks’ last six games with an average combined score of 7.1 goals per game.
My Pick Is…
To take the OVER because of how many goals the Sharks give up on the road (3.47 per game). The Blackhawks still have some talent on their roster despite their record and I don’t feel comfortable spotting the Sharks two goals considering they’re 2-7 SU in their last nine road games.
