The Vegas Golden Knights (+900 to win the Stanley Cup) are still a young franchise team but they have big dreams, and it doesn’t include getting eliminated in the first round despite holding a 3-1 series lead. Will the defending Western Conference champions bounce back from consecutive losses and beat the San Jose Sharks (+1,000) on the road in Game 7? Or will the Sharks complete the improbable comeback?
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Betting Preview for Game 7 of the Vegas Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks NHL Playoffs Round 1 on April 23, 2019
Where: SAP Center, San Jose, CA
When: Tuesday, April 23, 2019, 10:00 PM ET
Line: Vegas Golden Knights (+1.5) vs. San Jose Sharks (-1.5) –view all NHL lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Vegas Golden Knights (43-32-7 Regular Season)
The Golden Knights are kicking themselves in the head. That’s for sure after surrendering a shorthanded goal in overtime of their 2-1 loss in Game 6 at home. It wasn’t just the fact that they lost during a situation when they had the man advantage, but also because they dominated the possession in that game by a huge margin. The Golden Knights got off 59 shots in Game 6 to just 29 by San Jose. Vegas is winning the possession battle in the series thus far, but the Golden Knights need better quality shots. They also outshot San Jose in Game 5 (32-29) but lost that game, too, 5-2. In any case, the Golden Knights would rather have that trend going their way. They are sixth among all playoff teams thus far with a 54.12 shot attempts percentage. They are also deadlier on the power play than San Jose with eight goals on the man advantage in the series compared to just four by the Sharks.
The over is 6-0 in Vegas’ last six road games.
Betting on the San Jose Sharks (46-27-9 Regular Season)
The Sharks are close to completely pulling off a miracle. Down 3-1 in the series, the Sharks have managed to win two-straight games, thanks in large part to the incredible job goaltender Martin Jones has done the past two games in between the pipes. Jones turned away 30 of 32 shots he faced in Game 5 and topped that performance up with a monster 58-save night in Game 6. If it weren’t for Jones, Tomas Hertl was unlikely to even get an opportunity to bury that shorthanded game-winning goal in overtime. Although the Sharks overcame Vegas’ power play in overtime of Game 6, they must cut down on their penalties, as the Golden Knights have, as mentioned earlier, have been scoring a lot on the man advantage. Erik Karlsson leads the Sharks in the postseason with seven goals, while Logan Couture, Evander Kane, and Hertl each have six.
San Jose is 3-1 in its last four home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Vegas wins, 3-2.
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