For the first time in franchise history, the San Jose Sharks have a lead in the Western Conference Finals. They've really looked the dominant of the two sides against the St. Louis Blues, and another win on Saturday night after the Preakness Stakes will move them one step closer to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
It's tough to say the Sharks haven't earned their 2-1 lead in this series. They've put on a defensive master class in these first three games, and they really should be up 3-0, not just 2-1.
San Jose was awfully public in Game 3 of this series, and for good reason. The team was great at +113 on the road in Game 2, and it had to be a healthy favorite. The price steamed over 15 cents before the puck dropped on Thursday night, and we suspect we'll see something similar to the -143 which Game 3 closed at in this one.
GOALIE REPORT
Martin Jones has now gone over 150 minutes without allowing a goal. He's the first Sharks goalie to ever post back-to-back shutouts in the playoffs, and he's done so without really having to do all that much work. Jones has stopped his last 58 shots faced, and there have been some good ones in there as well.
St. Louis went five full minutes in the third period with the extra attacker on the ice in Game 3 just to try to get one past Jones, and it still couldn't get the job done.
Ken Hitchcock pushed the panic button in Game 3, and we're not sure what he's going to do now. Brian Elliott wasn't good on Thursday, allowing three goals on just 14 shots, but he was yanked for the second time in these playoffs.
Elliott's numbers are starting to middle for sure, and Jake Allen could be called upon to try to put a jolt into this team. Allen has faced just nine shots the entire postseason, stopping all nine.
LIVE BETTING
Live bettors really have to assess whether the Blues have anything left in the tank or not. They've had to play 17 playoff games already and look gassed. They're just not hitting as hard as they were in the first two series of the postseason, and when they aren't hitting, they aren't creating opportunities.
Unfortunately, what's happened time and time again is missed checks have turned into breaks the other direction for San Jose. The Sharks only had 16 shots on goal in Game 3, but they were always the more dangerous of the two games and were deserving of all of their goals.
QUICK PICK
We said before Game 3 we thought the Sharks were winning this series in five games, and we haven't seen anything to deter us from that thought.
Maybe Allen comes into the net and provides that spark the Blues need to give one last surge in this series, but San Jose sent a real message at the end of Game 3 by shutting down that 6-on-5 without really allowing much in the way of great opportunities.
If the Blues can't score 6-on-5, what makes you think they're going to score 5-on-5? We'll give them one goal on Saturday, but that won't be enough to get back in this series.
NHL Odds: Sharks 3, Blues 1
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