Following a pair of Game 7 victories in the second round, the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks are ready to contest Game 1 of their Western Conference Final. The Sharks’ first two series have gone the distance, earning nail-biting wins in each, while the Blues ended the first set in six games but needed double overtime to get past Dallas in the second round. San Jose won two of the three meetings with St. Louis this year and is a -130 favorite in Game 1 with the Blues coming back at +110 and the total Sportsbook at 5.5 goals.
Standout Stats
- San Jose is 8-6 in the playoffs but failed to string together victories in the Colorado series. The Sharks are also 6-2 at the SAP Center in the playoffs.
- St. Louis is 8-5 in the playoffs and are riding a two-game winning streak to finish off Dallas. The Blues are 5-1 in road games in the playoffs but lost both games at the Shark Tank this year.
- The total has gone UNDER in six of St. Louis’ 13 playoff games with an average combined score of 5.15. Meanwhile, the total has gone OVER in eight of San Jose’s 14 playoff contests with an average combined score of 6.14.
- San Jose has three players tied for second in scoring in the playoffs in Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture and Brent Burns, each with 14 points. Hertl and Couture also are tied for the playoff lead in goals with nine each.
- St. Louis has two players with double-digit points in the playoffs in Jaden Schwartz and Alex Pietrangelo. Schwartz is also second in the playoffs with eight goals.
- The Sharks’ Sportsbook is clicking at just 18.5 percent in the playoffs, while the Blues are scoring on just 17.1 percent of their extra-man opportunities. On the penalty kill side, St. Louis is only stopping 75 percent of PK’s and San Jose is better at 80.8 percent.
- The Blues are averaging two fewer shots against per game than the Sharks as San Jose is surrendering 31.2 and St. Louis is giving up 29.2.
- After being horrendous to start the playoffs, Martin Jones (SJS) has settled down and is sporting a respectable .910 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average. Meanwhile, Jordan Binnington has very few rough outings and has a .915 save percentage and an impressive 2.39 goals against average.
- The Blues are looking for their first win at the SAP Center in over two years, currently on a three-game slide with their last road victory over the Sharks coming on March 16, 2017.
My Best Bet for St. Louis vs San Jose
San Jose Moneyline
The Sharks have had a better Sportsbook and penalty kill than the Blues in the playoffs and often times it is the special teams that dictate how a series will go. Additionally, Martin Jones was really good in the second round, sporting a .916 save percentage and a 2.29 goals against average. San Jose has had the better offense in the postseason and has been really good at home and I think it grabs a 1-0 series lead.
