Last Updated on April 14, 2010 2:00 pm by drew
Sharks-Avalanche Pick
The top seed in the Western Conference Playoffs take the ice on Wednesday as the San Jose Sharks face the Colorado Avalanche.
Bet NHL Future Odds
The Sharks are the No. 1 seed in the West while the Avalanche is the No. 8 seed.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made San Jose the clear favorites to win the series with a money line of -500 while the Avalanche have a line of +350.
In four meetings this season, the two teams split right down the middle 2-2. Two of the games were decided by one goal while one team had at least 40 shots in each contest.
San Jose scored 264 goals on the year while allowing 215. San Jose was 27-6-8 at home and 24-14-3 on the road. The Sharks won 51 games in total for 113 points to become champions of the Pacific Division. Joe Thornton had 20 goals and 69 assists to lead the Sharks while Patrick Marleau had 44 goals and 39 assists. Dany Heatley added 39 goals and 43 assists while Joe Pavelski had 25 goals. Evgeni Nabokov had 44 wins in net for San Jose, including three shutouts. Nabokov had a goals against average of 2.43 while racking up a .920 save percentage.
Colorado scored 244 goals on the year while allowing 233. The Avalanche won 43 games for 95 points. They were 24-14-3 at home this season. Paul Stastny scored 20 goals with 59 assists to lead Colorado while Chris Stewart had 28 goals with 26 assists and Matt Duchene added 24 goals and 31 assists. Craig Anderson won 38 games in net this season, including seven shutout victories Anderson had a goals against average of 2.63 while racking up a save percentage of .920.
Colorado struggled toward the end of the season, winning just three of their last 10, so going with San Jose seems to be the easy choice. The Sharks don’t have an attractive money line, but the Avalanche just seem to be outmatched in this series.
Our Stanley Cup Series Free Pick for this matchup is: SAN JOSE -500
Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Trends
SAN JOSE is 27-12 ATS (+6.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
SAN JOSE is 84-55 ATS (-8.9 Units) in April games since 1996.
COLORADO is 43-39 ATS (+82.8 Units) in all games this season.
COLORADO is 19-11 ATS (+32.1 Units) in road games after 3 or more consecutive losses since 1996.
COLORADO is 30-30 ATS (+67.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
SAN JOSE is 52-40 ATS (-15.3 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
SAN JOSE is 7-11 ATS (-17.8 Units) in home games when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 3 seasons.
SAN JOSE is 100-96 ATS (-61.9 Units) in home games after a division game since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
SAN JOSE is 8-4 (+2.3 Units) against the spread versus COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
SAN JOSE is 8-4-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 12 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.7 Units)
Stanley Cup Playoffs Injury Report
COLORADO
[RW] 04/11/2010 – David Jones doubtful Sunday vs. Los Angeles ( Knee )
[LW] 04/05/2010 – Peter Mueller out at least another week ( Concussion )
[C] 04/10/2010 – Matt Duchene is downgraded to doubtful Sunday vs. Los Angeles ( Hip )
[LW] 04/10/2010 – TJ Galiardi is upgraded to probable Sunday vs. Los Angeles ( Hip )
SAN JOSE
No significant injuries.
Stanley Cup Playoffs Series Odds
San Jose Sharks -500
Colorado Avalanche +350
Sharks vs. Avalanche Series Schedule:
Wednesday, April 14 at San Jose, 10:30 p.m. CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
Friday, April 16 at San Jose, 10:30 p.m. CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
Sunday, April 18 at Colorado, 9:30 p.m. CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
Tuesday, April 20 at Colorado, 10:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
*Thursday, April 22 at San Jose, 10:30 p.m. CBC, VERSUS (JIP)
*Saturday, April 24 at Colorado, TBD CBC
*Monday, April 26 at San Jose, TBD CBC
*If Necessary
Bet NHL Future Odds
Posted: 4/14/10 2:00PM ET