Betting news, trends, odds and predictions for from various handicappers and websites for Wednesday 5/15/19
On Wednesday, May 15, the Western Conference finals shift St. Louis where the St. Louis Blues will welcome the San Jose Sharks with their series tied at one game apiece. After being dominated in Game 1, St. Louis rebounded to earn a 4-2 victory. The Blues would jump out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn, but San Jose would tie the score on a pair of goals by Logan Couture. However, Robert Bortuzzo gave the Blues back the lead with a little over three minutes left in the second, and Oskar Sundqvist sealed the victory with his third goal of the playoffs late in the third.
Featured Games
San Jose Sharks (-133) vs. St. Louis Blues (+116)
San Jose Notes
The keys for San Jose start with the lackluster play of their third line. Joe Thornton and Kevin Labanc have just one point each over the last eight games while Marcus Sorensen has not recorded a point in his last seven contests. Thornton has also looked bad defensively and may find his time on the ice reduced in Game 3.
Logan Couture continues to impress in the playoffs. He has a pair of goals in each of the first two games of the series and leads all playoff performers with 13 goals and 19 assists.
The special teams have been a clear advantage for San Jose, as they are averaging 18.3% success on their power play and are killing off 82.8% of shorthanded situations. Using their size and skating ability should give them a clear edge of they are able to force a few additional power plays in this contest.
St. Louis Notes
The Blues are rallying behind defensemen Jay Bouwmeester in his quest to earn Stanley Cup championship. The defenseman’s 16 year NHL career has spanned 1184 regular-season games, and the team would love to see the drought of the 35-year-old come to an end.
Joel Edmundson had a pair of assists in Game 2, giving him four points in his last four games. He had just two points through the first nine playoff games this season. What has made St. Louis so difficult to play against was represented well in the last game against San Jose. Four different players scored a goal, and 11 different players had points. It is difficult for opponents to matchup against any particular line because they run three deep.
Goaltending Matchup:
Martin Jones gave up four goals on 25 shots in Game 2, but the team is not the least bit concerned. Jones has allowed at least four goals in four of his 16 playoff games this season, but still maintains a 2.83 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. The Sharks get that they have to accept a dud from their goaltender every once in a while to get four or five spectacular performances.
Jordan Binnington represented himself well in the last contest, stopping 24 of 26 shots. That reduced his goals-against average to 2.54 and increased his save percentage to .909. as a note, the last time Binnington gave up as many as five goals in a playoff game, he responded with four straight contests where he allowed two goals each.
Stat Pack:
Sharks:
Goals For: 3.19
Goals Against: 3.13
Power-Play: 18.3%
Penalty Killing: 82.8%
Blues:
Goals For: 2.73
Goals Against: 2.73
Power-Play: 14.9%
Penalty Killing: 76.5%
Trends to Know
San Jose Sharks are:
8-4 in their last 12 games.
3-7 in their last 10 games on the road.
4-1 in their last five games on Wednesday.
St. Louis Blues are:
17-6 in their last 23 games at home.
17-8 in their last 25 games.
2-5 in their last seven conference finals games.
Prediction
Well, we had the score right in the last contest but believed that it would be San Jose that was the 4-2 winner. This would seem to give the Blues a huge advantage, but the Sharks have been in the situation before, coming out of the first two games of each of the first two rounds of these playoffs tied at 1-1. So, no particular edge St. Louis by taking one of the games in San Jose.
The Sharks simply got outplayed in Game 2. Now they head to St. Louis where they are likely to face a raucous Blues crowd. Plus, Binnington has a history of rebounding from a bad performance by putting together four or five outstanding games. We look for St. Louis to take a 2-1 series lead riding the strong play of their goaltender.
The total is set at 5.5 for this contest. Each of the first two games have gone over, but those were in San Jose. The Blues have gone under in four of their last six games at home and Binnington has allowed 12 total goals in his last six home games. We go with the St. Louis Blues winning, 3-2.
San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues Preview and Predictions 05-15-2019 in NHL
The San Jose Sharks have been in this precise position in each of the two previous rounds, having posted a convincing win in the series opener only to turn around and relinquish home-ice advantage with a loss in the following contest. The Sharks aim to get back on track Wednesday when the Western Conference final shifts to the Gateway City for Game 3 against the St. Louis Blues.
"Every series we get a great first game and the second kind of a little bit struggling," San Jose forward Tomas Hertl said after a 4-2 setback in Game 2 on Monday. "It's still fine, but we have to be better, we can't play like that." There has been little issue with the production of Logan Couture (NHL-best 13 goals, 19 points), who recorded his fourth multi-goal performance of the playoffs and second in as many games on Monday by tallying twice in a span of 1:59 during the second period. St. Louis' Jaden Schwartz has also produced as his goal in the first period of Game 2 pushed him within one of becoming the fourth player in franchise history to score at least 10 times in one playoff season. "It's definitely the (most fun) time of the year," said the 26-year-old Schwartz, who scored 11 goals in 69 regular-season games. "I had some struggles earlier that I haven't really had before, but once playoff starts ... I don't know, you just embrace the games, have fun with it. I don't really try to think too much about it."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, Sportsnet 360, TVAS
ABOUT THE SHARKS: San Jose's third line has struggled to make its mark in the playoffs, as Joe Thornton and Kevin Labanc have mustered just one point each in the last eight contests while Marcus Sorensen is mired in a seven-game point drought. "We've got another level, I think," said the 39-year-old Thornton, who owns a team-worst minus-7 rating in the playoffs. One such defensive issue saw Thornton trailing the play as Blues defenseman Roberto Bertuzzo pinched in and scored the eventual game-winning goal late in the second period on Monday.
ABOUT THE BLUES: While much has been made of Thornton's pursuit of the Stanley Cup, St. Louis defenseman Jay Bouwmeester is on a lengthy quest of his own -- one that has spanned 16 NHL seasons and 1,184 regular-season games. "That's part of the reason why he's still playing. That's the end game," the 35-year-old Bouwmeester said of Thornton. Fellow defenseman Alex Pietrangelo set up Oskar Sundqvist's insurance goal late in the third period on Monday for his 12th point of the postseason, one shy of Schwartz for the team lead.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis' Jordan Binnington is one win shy of becoming the 10th rookie goaltender in NHL history to reach double digits in a single postseason.
2. San Jose RW Timo Meier has six points (two goals, four assists) in his last four games.
3. The Blues failed on all five power-play attempts in Game 2 and are 1-for-26 with the man advantage in their past eight contests.
PREDICTION: Sharks 3, Blues 2
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NHL
Wednesday, May 15
Trend Report
San Jose Sharks
San Jose is 8-17 ATS in its last 25 games
San Jose is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games
San Jose is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games on the road
San Jose is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Jose's last 8 games when playing St. Louis
San Jose is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Jose's last 7 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
St. Louis Blues
St. Louis is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games
St. Louis is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games
St. Louis is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games at home
St. Louis is 17-6 SU in its last 23 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis's last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of St. Louis's last 8 games when playing San Jose
St. Louis is 2-7 ATS in its last 9 games when playing at home against San Jose
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of St. Louis's last 7 games when playing at home against San Jose
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NHL
Dunkel
Wednesday, May 15
San Jose @ St. Louis
Game 13-14
May 15, 2019 @ 8:00 pm
Dunkel Rating:
San Jose
12.413
St. Louis
10.943
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
San Jose
by 1 1/2
4
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
St. Louis
-145
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
San Jose
(+125); Under
NHL
Long Sheet
Wednesday, May 15
SAN JOSE (55-33-0-10, 120 pts.) at ST LOUIS (54-33-0-10, 118 pts.) - 5/15/2019, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ST LOUIS is 39-21 ATS (+7.9 Units) second half of the season this season.
ST LOUIS is 33-22 ATS (+4.4 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ST LOUIS is 21-10 ATS (+10.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
SAN JOSE is 226-241 ATS (+509.8 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.
ST LOUIS is 17-22 ATS (-14.9 Units) in home games after a win by 2 goals or more over the last 3 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
ST LOUIS is 6-5 (+1.5 Units) against the spread versus SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
ST LOUIS is 6-5-0 straight up against SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
6 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+3.5 Units)
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