Calgary Flames vs. San Jose Sharks Prediction, NHL Odds
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Nik Kowalski
Calgary played in Anaheim last night, holding on for a 4-2 victory. The win extended the Flames lead in the Pacific Division to six points over Edmonton. San Jose is at the end of a three-game stretch at home, last playing Edmonton on Tuesday and falling 2-1 in overtime. After Thursday, the 13th-place Sharks go on the road for five straight.
Puck drop at SAP Center is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. EDT, with the road Flames a -235 moneyline favourite and the over-under at six on the NHL odds.
Flames vs. Sharks NHL Betting Odds
Despite San Jose being outside of the playoffs and Calgary in first place, it’s the Sharks looking for the season sweep over their fellow Pacific Division opponent. San Jose’s defeated Calgary three straight times already and dating back even further have won seven of their last nine when hosting the Flames. San Jose’s scored at least four times in all three wins this year.
But San Jose’s entering Thursday having dropped five of their last six overall while Calgary’s back in a groove with wins in five of their last six on the road. The Flames are 2-0 on their current four-game trip with Seattle remaining on Saturday.
Calgary Flames
The top guys came through for the Flames in Anaheim: Elias Lindholm’s team-leading 36th opened the scoring, Johnny Gaudreau assisted on the game’s opening and final goals, veteran Tyler Toffoli found the back of the net, and then the outlier was Michael Stone who’s first snipe of the season ended up being the game-winner.
Gaudreau’s now three points shy of 100 a feat he’s never hit — his career high is 99 points in 2018–19. At 97 points, Gaudreau is now fourth in the NHL.
Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves on 28 shots and started his eighth straight game. With Thursday being a back-to-back, expect backup Dan Vladar to get the nod in San Jose.
San Jose Sharks
San Jose’s four-game losing streak started with a trend of allowing four or more goals in a losing effort, but then Tuesday they upped their defensive play only to put one goal themselves and lose again. Tomas Hertl scored the Sharks’ lone goal and is second on the club with 27 this season, but only has two tallies since March 15. Goals have been hard to come by this season in San Jose as the Sharks rank 28th in the league with 2.61 a night.
If there’s one think San Jose does consistently well, it’s killing penalties. The Sharks’ 85.1 percentage is third in the NHL which is key when facing a juggernaut offence like Calgary.
