Everyone who had the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators squaring off for the right to play in the Western Conference Finals, say ay.
*Crickets Chirping*
These two teams pulled off big upsets in the opening round of the playoffs, and now all of a sudden, one will be four wins away from the Stanley Cup Finals. The task at hand begins in earnest on Friday night at the Shark Tank.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The oddsmakers have to have their minds blown with this series as it is. The Sharks, who were over 20 to 1 underdogs to win the Stanley Cup at the outset of the playoffs, are all of a sudden now in a spot where they're going to be favored in most of the games in this second round series.
Nashville won't be nearly as massive of a dog as it was when it pulled off the upset of Anaheim in Game 7 at +163, but it'll again be a big pup.
GOALIE REPORT
Martin Jones truly is a difference-maker for the Sharks between the pipes. He's got a tough side to him, and that's what you need here in the playoffs to succeed. He posted a 2.18 GAA against the Kings in the opening round along with a .912 save percentage, but he clearly got some help from his defense. Can Jones really go through Game 1 facing just 25 shots as he averaged per game in the opening round?
Pekka Rinne was flat out brilliant in Game 7 against the Ducks. He was under constant siege in the second and third periods, and he had to come up with a total of 36 saves on the night on 37 shots. He did the job in arguably the biggest game of his career though, and he enters this series with the confidence brimming from two awesome starts in a row against one of the toughest offenses in hockey.
LIVE BETTING
This whole series is going to be dirty and nasty, and whichever team can have some of those prettier moments will probably end up advancing.
For the purposes of Game 1, we have to think that edge goes to San Jose. The Sharks got five goals from Joe Pavelski in five games against the Kings, and he and Patrick Marleau are inevitably going to be a huge part of the offensive effort versus Nashville. Don't forget that Logan Couture had six points in the first round as well, and Brent Burns was a hero at the point with two goals and six helpers.
QUICK PICK
This is a really tough turnaround for the Predators. They really don't have time to get back to Nashville to prepare for this NHL series, and as a result, they're going to go straight from Anaheim up the coast to San Jose.
The Sharks are just a different group to get ready for. They've got enough raw talent on those two top lines to put six goals on the board on any given night, but the way that Jones and his defense played in that series against LA, you'd think this was a grinder team.
Goals will be hard to come by throughout this series, and we're wondering aloud if Jones will be in line for a shutout in this game. Even if he isn't, we still like the Sharks to take the 1-0 series lead.
NHL Odds: Sharks 2, Predators 0
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