The San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues were largely known as two of the most underachieving teams in the NHL in terms of playoff success. Both have shed a ton of emotional and mental baggage to reach the Western Conference Finals, and we expect to see an awesome display in Game 1 of this series as a result.
NHL Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
San Jose Sharks +115
St. Louis Blues -135
Over/Under 5
ODDS ANALYSIS
You just know this series is going to be close every step of the way. The oddsmakers have already basically laid down the groundwork that all of the games in this series are going to feature the home team favored by relatively small margins. The price of -135 on St. Louis isn't particularly large, and it's a real warning that the Sharks could easily win this first game.
The total to kickoff this series is set at a flat 5, and we suspect that will remain the case throughout the proceedings.
GOALIE REPORT
Brian Elliott showed some real guts in Game 7 against the Stars. Sure, having your team score six in front of you helps, but Elliott could've easily sulked and had a brutal last game after getting yanked in the first period of Game 6 at home.
Now, Elliott is sporting an 8-6 record, a 2.29 GAA and a cool .929 save percentage.
It's tough to argue with anything Martin Jones has done in the second season. He posted his first career playoff shutout in Game 7 against Nashville, and that improved his stats to a 2.16 GAA and a .918 save percentage. More important? He's the only goalie left standing to play every minute for his team in the second season.
LIVE BETTING
This series might really come down to St. Louis' ability to stay out of the sin bin. The Blues have been physical, and they've been called for plenty of penalties as a result.
When they've gotten their chances though, the Sharks have been remarkable on the man advantage. They scored nine times against Nashville on the power play, including twice in Game 7. Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns on the ice at the same time? There's not a better unit than that in all of hockey.
QUICK PICK
And that's exactly why we think the Sharks are going to take at least one of these games in St. Louis.
The Blues don't have the star power that San Jose does, and Vladimir Tarasenko felt like he fell off the face of the earth in spite of the fact that he did score three goals in the seven games against Dallas.
The speed of the Sharks will just be too much for St. Louis to come back from. We do think the Blues will set the tone with some physicality, and those checks will come back to pay dividends as the NHL series wears on, but for now, we'll give Game 1 to San Jose. We recommend taking the goal line, knowing that this series is very likely to feature nothing but very close games.
NHL Odds: Sharks 3, Blues 2
Access live betting lines from your mobile device or tablet at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker's live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The matchup between the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues will start at 8:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 15, 2016 at the Scottrade Center. Game 1 of this series will be televised live on NBC Sports Network.
