Vegas Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks Prediction, NHL Odds
The Vegas Golden Knights began their Stanley Cup title defence Wednesday night and showed very little rust, taking a 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken.
They will now hit the road to face their division rivals; the San Jose Sharks in their home opener from the SAP Center.
The Golden Knights will be the heavy -250 favourite on the NHL odds and the total is set at 6.5 goals. This is the latest game on the Thursday night NHL schedule, with puck drop set for 10:30 PM ET.
Golden Knights vs. Sharks NHL Betting Odds
Last season’s four-game season series between Vegas and San Jose was split two games apiece with each team taking a win at home and on the road. Five of the last six meetings between these squads have featured at least 6 goals, putting the O/U record in that stretch at 4-1-1. Vegas has dominated at SAP Center winning eight of the past nine meetings in San Jose.
Vegas gave up only 229 goals last season, good for 5th in the Western Conference and got off to a good start on Tuesday allowing just one to Seattle in the opener. They were 35-41 last season on the Over/Under but only covered in 43 of 82 games.
San Jose gave up the third most goals of any team last season and losing their starting goalie as well as their top defenceman will likely not help their totals in that regard. They played the Over 48 times last season, which was a league-high.
Vegas Golden Knights
After earning a name for himself with an amazing run in goal for the Golden Knights on their Stanley Cup victory, Adin Hill lived up to the hype in Vegas’ season opener. The 27-year-old stopped 32 of 33 shots earning himself the First Star of the Game honours and leading his squad to a 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken.
Chandler Stephenson got the ball rolling, scoring with the Knights’s first shot of the game just after the seven-minute mark. Jonathan Marchessault and Ivan Barbashev would score their firsts of the year before Jack Eichel would ice the game in the empty net.
It was also a big night for Captain Mark Stone who raised Vegas’ Stanley Cup banner and picked up two assists in the win.
San Jose Sharks
To absolutely nobody’s surprise, the Sharks open the 2023-24 campaign with the highest odds to finish in last place. After a league-worst 22 regulation wins last season and a 29th-place finish, San Jose got even worse by trading away their best player and losing their starting goalie in free agency.
After a historic 101-point season, defenceman Erik Karlsson was shipped off to Pittsburgh in a blockbuster deal that helped them pick up forwards Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund and defenceman Jan Rutta. They also brought in goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to help replace James Reimer who started 43 games for the team last year. Adding in Anthony Duclair and Filip Zadina will help round out the offence a bit, but will not replace what they sent to Pittsburgh.
They will also be without Captain and first-line Centre, Logan Couture to begin the season as he is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury.