When the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights began their first-round series, sportsbooks tabbed the potential outcome as a pick’em. With the Sharks picking up a huge 5-2 triumph in Game 1, San Jose is the clear front-runner to advance to the next round right now. Game 2 is set for tonight and sportsbooks opened the Golden Knights as +115 road underdogs with a total of 6.5.
Golden Knights vs Sharks Game Center
Standout Stats
- Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who had two shutouts en route to dispatching the Sharks in last year’s second-round series, allowed four goals on 32 shots while seeing five San Jose players register multi-point performances in the opener.
- San Jose is 13-7 all-time when taking a 1-0 lead in a playoff series. Keep in mind, however, that the Golden Knights rebounded from their lone Game 1 loss to Winnipeg in last year’s Western Conference final.
- Sharks netminder Martin Jones didn’t have a great regular season but looked solid in Game 1, turning aside 24 of the 26 shots he faced in the winning effort.
- Vegas’ series-opening loss continued a concerning trend for puck bettors. In the Golden Knights’ previous 14 contests when labeled as road underdogs, they’re 2-12 SU and 4-10 on the puckline.
- The Sharks have been OVER machines at home. After Game 1 went OVER by a goal, San Jose has gone OVER in each of its past five home tilts with an average combined score of 7.6 goals.
My best bet for Golden Knights-Sharks
Golden Knights moneyline
While their Game 1 effort was less than inspiring, I’m on Vegas to bounce back and even up the series tonight for a few reasons. Fleury is a world-class goaltender who rarely has back-to-back ugly games, and I expect him to shut the door vs the Sharks tonight. Despite being in only its second season of existence, Vegas has proven to be a battle-tested unit and I don’t think they’re going to go back to Sin City down 2-0.
