Last Updated on April 29, 2010 12:00 pm by drew
Sharks-Red Wings Pick
The defending Western Conference Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, continue the defense of their title today when they begin their series against the San Jose Sharks.
Bet NHL Future Odds
The Sharks are the No. 1 seed in the West while the Red Wings are the No. 5 seed.
Oddsmakers from Online Sportsbook 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, Detroit won three while San Jose won one. The Red Wings out-shot the Sharks in all but one game. The Sharks never scored a power play goal n the Wings during the year.
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. In the opening series, Nabokov had a save percentage of .926 and recorded one shutout. Against the Avalanche, the Sharks averaged 40.8 shots per-game while giving up just 24.8.
The Red Wings scored 229 goals on the year and allowed 216. Detroit won 44 games for 102 points. Detroit was 25-10-6 at home on the season. The Red Wings struggled early in the season as injuries piled up, but Detroit was hot in the final quarter of the season and the Wings have won eight of their last 10 games. Pavel Datsyuk led the team with 27 goals and 43 assists while Henrik Zetterberg had 23 goals and 47 assists. Nicklas Lidstrom added 40 assists while Tomas Holmstrom had 25 goals and 20 assists. Goalie Jimmy Howard won 37 games this season with three shutouts. He posted a goals against average of 2.26 and a save percentage of .920. In the seven-game series with Phoenix, Howard had a save percentage of .919. As a team, Detroit averaged 36.7 shots per-game while allowing 31.6.
The Sharks don’t have history on their side as they are accustomed to early exits in the Stanley Cup Playoffs while the Red Wings have a lot of experience with going deep into the tournament. Detroit has been hot and cold, looking great at times and then looking meager other times. San Jose struggled with Colorado, but one of the losses was on a fluke overtime goal. In this series, we look to Nabokov to carry the Sharks past the Wings and their younger, less-talented goalie in Howard.
Our Stanley Cup Series Free Pick for this matchup is: SAN JOSE -150
Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Trends
DETROIT is 8-13 ATS (-9.8 Units) revenging a home loss versus opponent this season.
SAN JOSE is 31-14 ATS (+6.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
DETROIT is 11-4 ATS (+15.5 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
SAN JOSE is 56-42 ATS (-17.5 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
SAN JOSE is 12-15 ATS (-15.0 Units) when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 3 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 8-4 (+4.8 Units) against the spread versus SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 8-4-0 straight up against SAN JOSE over the last 3 seasons
7 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.1 Units)
Stanley Cup Playoffs Injury Report
DETROIT
[LW] 02/25/2010 – Kirk Maltby out for season ( Shoulder )
SAN JOSE
[RW] 04/24/2010 – Jed Ortmeyer "?" Thursday vs. Detroit ( Lower Body )
[D] 04/24/2010 – Niclas Wallin "?" Thursday vs. Detroit ( Lower Body )
Stanley Cup Playoffs Series Odds
San Jose Sharks -150
Detroit Red Wings +120
Sharks vs. Red Wings Series Schedule:
Thursday, April 29 at San Jose, 9:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
Sunday, May 2 at San Jose, 8:00 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
Tuesday, May 4 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
Thursday, May 6 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.. TSN, VERSUS
*Saturday, May 8 at San Jose, 10:30 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
*Monday, May 10 at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. TSN, VERSUS
*Wednesday, May 12 at San Jose, TBD TSN, VERSUS
*If Necessary
Bet NHL Future Odds
Posted: 4/29/10 12:00PM ET