Game – Buff at San Jose, starts 1:05 Pacific
Lines- SJ Sharks ML -350 (ridiculous) and puck line -1.5 goals at -120 to -130 odds
Plays
San Jose -1.5 on the puck line for 2.5 units at -120 or 2 units at -125 to -135, pass at > 140 and find a new book
Cross-sport ML parlay involving Sharks – SJ/ML -350 with Ole Miss (tonite at LSU) -160 or 165 on ML for 2 units (risk 2 units to win +2.1 units, +105 parlay odds)
Why we like SJ over Buffalo
It isn’t bad enough for the Buffalo Sabres that they’re languishing near the bottom of the NHL standings - now they have to contend with one of the highest-scoring teams in the league, as the SJ Sharks have a league-high 27 goals. In stark contrast, the lowly Sabres have just nine goals through their first eight games (including just one goal during their four-game skid) and are one of three teams still looking for its first power-play goal, having gone 0-for-27 with the man advantage. Buffalo continues its four-game west coast road trip (or should we say Bataan Death March) this afternoon at the Shark Tank in San Jose as it tangles with the host Sharks. The only thing Sabres have going for them is that they not only won both meetings against SJ last season, including a 5-4 shootout decision Nov. 5 in San Jose, but have won their last 3 games at the Shark Tank. But we believe that, plus fact that Sharks are coming off of 3 losses, will prevent Sharks from taking this game too lightly.
We are going to hammer against Buffalo until it isn't profitable anymore. The Sabres have dropped 7 of their first 8 games with 6 of those loses coming by 2> goals, with the only game they did not lose by PL being against the weak Fla Panthers. And the Sabres have been dominated by the two other California teams on their western road trip (0-2 by the Kings and 1-4 by the Ducks). The Sharks have struggled to keep the puck out of their net of late, but we do not see that continuing against a Sabres team that has scored just 1 goal in their past 4 games combined. Sharks should win this afternoon game with some to spare.
Given the money line for SJ (a ridiculous -350), the only way to play Sharks "straight" is on the -1.5 puck line, at Shark-friendly odds of -120 or 125. But we'll also cover the possibility of SJ winning by just one goal with our cross-sport plus odds ML parlay of SJ with Ole Miss.