NHL Knowledge
San Jose-St Louis
Blues won four of last six games with San Jose; three of last four series games stayed under total. San Jose is 3-2 in last five visits here, they've lost last four road games overall, two in OT- over is 3-1-1 in their last five games overall. St Louis won five of last seven games (over 3-1-3); they lost two of last three home games. In Game 1, Sharks didn't score for last 44:22 and lost 2-1 despite outshooting Blues 32-23. San Jose was 0-3 on power play i Game 1, the Blues were 0-2.
Playoffs tally: 1st round-- Home: 23-24, Over: 16-17-14
2nd round-- Home: 16-9, Over: 11-5-9
Conference finals-- Home 2-1, Over 0-2-1
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Tuesday's NHL Conference Finals Betting Preview
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San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues (A: +115, H: -135, O/U: 5)
The San Jose Sharks forged their identity by posting the NHL's top road record this season, but losses in four straight away from home is cause for concern for coach Peter DeBoer's club. Facing a series deficit for the first time in the postseason, San Jose looks to end its road woes and even the Western Conference final with the St. Louis Blues at one victory apiece on Tuesday when the clubs play Game 2 at Scottrade Center.
With the pressure mounting, DeBoer took issue with the officiating in Sunday's 2-1 series-opening setback, telling reporters the following day that "What we're relying on are the officials to do their job. St. Louis is one of the most penalized teams in the league, regular season and playoffs. They need to call the game accordingly." Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock was quick to respond to his coaching counterpart, telling reporters that "We were told not to whine for calls, so we're not going to whine for calls. If Pete wants to do it, that's his (business)." St. Louis won the special teams battle in Game 1 as captain David Backes scored a power-play goal and the Blues thwarted all three opportunities of the Sharks, who entered the contest 13-for-42 (30.9 percent) with the man advantage in the previous two rounds.
PROBABLE GOALIES:
Sharks - Martin Jones (W/L: 8-5, GAA: 2.16, SAVE %: .918)
Blues - Brian Elliott (W/L: 9-6, GAA: 2.20, SAVE %: .930)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (54-32-9, 48-36 O/U): Norris Trophy-finalist Brent Burns recorded his playoff-leading 12th assist on Tomas Hertl's first-period goal, but his costly turnover led to Jori Lehtera's go-ahead tally in the second. "That's the way the games are going to go, little bounces here and there," Burns told reporters. "That's the way it is going to be the rest of the series." Hertl's goal, which was his first since the second-round opener versus Nashville, was result of a fortunate carom off his skate and past Brian Elliott.
ABOUT THE BLUES (58-28-11, 38-43 O/U): Elliott turned aside all 16 shots he faced in the second period and 31 total on Sunday to improve to 4-0 with a 1.29 goals-against average and .954 save percentage in five career playoff meetings with San Jose. "When your goalie is your best player, it gives you a great chance of winning, and that was the case," Backes said of Elliott. "It was that way for the first two rounds and nothing's changed in Game 1 of the third round." Backes' seventh goal on Sunday matched him with Vladimir Tarasenko for the team lead in that category and the two are also tied with rookie Robby Fabbri with a club-best 13 points.
TRENDS:
* Sharks are 3-13 in their last 16 Conference Finals games.
* Blues are 13-3 in their last 16 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game.
* Over is 4-0-3 in Sharks last 7 games playing on 1 days rest.
* Over is 4-0-3 in Blues last 7 when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game.
* Over is 8-3-1 in the last 12 meetings.
CONSENSUS: As of Monday evening, 53 percent of the Consensus public is picking the Blues to extend their series lead to 2-0. Over 5 goals is picking up 60 percent of the public action.
SAN JOSE (54-33-0-8, 116 pts.) at ST LOUIS (58-29-0-10, 126 pts.) - 5/17/2016, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ST LOUIS is 58-39 ATS (+10.8 Units) in all games this season.
ST LOUIS is 35-22 ATS (+1.3 Units) second half of the season this season.
ST LOUIS is 15-5 ATS (+8.7 Units) on Tuesday nights this season.
ST LOUIS is 33-21 ATS (+9.4 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ST LOUIS is 22-12 ATS (+8.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
SAN JOSE is 21-9 ATS (+11.5 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less this season.
SAN JOSE is 18-9 ATS (+7.5 Units) in road games second half of the season this season.
SAN JOSE is 10-3 ATS (+13.0 Units) in road games on Tuesday nights this season.
SAN JOSE is 31-15 ATS (+11.9 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
SAN JOSE is 12-5 ATS (+6.4 Units) in road games after scoring 1 goal or less in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.
SAN JOSE is 23-11 ATS (+10.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
SAN JOSE is 18-5 ATS (+11.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
SAN JOSE is 6-4 (+1.4 Units) against the spread versus ST LOUIS over the last 3 seasons
SAN JOSE is 6-4-0 straight up against ST LOUIS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.1 Units)
SAN JOSE vs. ST. LOUIS
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of San Jose's last 21 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
San Jose is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of St. Louis's last 21 games when playing at home against San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis's last 7 games when playing at home against San Jose
San Jose at St Louis
San Jose: 21-9 SU in a road game where where the total is 5 or less
St Louis: 1-5 SU when leading in a playoff series