The San Jose Sharks (16-26-11) visit the Washington Capitals (28-20-6) Sunday. Face-off from Capital One Arena is set for 1 p.m. ET (NHL NET).
San Jose is coming off a 4-1 loss vs. Florida on Thursday, their 3rd in the last 5 games. They are 3-7 in their last 10. Sunday’s game will mark the end of an 8-game road trip inwhich they are 2-5 on.
The Capitals finished off a 3-game road trip with a 2-1 win Saturday night in Boston. Washington is 3-2 in the last 5 games and 5-5 in their last 10.
This is the 1st game of 2 meetings these season. The team meet March 4 in San Jose.
Sharks at Capitals odds
- Moneyline (ML): Sharks +150 (bet $100 to win $150) | Capitals -175 (bet $175 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Sharks +1.5 (-155) | Capitals -1.5 (+135)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Sharks at Capitals projected goalies
James Reimer (8-14-6, 3.31 GAA, .895 SV%) vs Charlie Lindgren (12-6-2, 2.67 GAA, .907 SV%)
Reimer last started in a 5-4 OT loss vs. Carolina on Jan. 27th and allowed 5 goals on 36 shots and posted an SV% of .861. He has lost 4 of his last 5 starts, including the last 2 in overtime.
Lindgren last started on Jan. 31st in a 4-3 OT win vs. Columbus. He allowed 3 goals on 34 shots and posted an SV% of .912 in the win to snap a 4-game losing streak.
Sharks at Capitals picks and predictions
Prediction
Capitals 3, Sharks 2
Moneyline
AVOID.
The Capitals should pick up the easy win in this game, despite this being the 2nd game of a back-to-back. The Capitals are the much better team and while this game will likely have a close final score, it will not necessarily be a close game. The reasons to avoid this are the price (-175) and the concern that fatigue could play a factor for the Capitals,
Puck line/Against the spread
BET SHARKS +1.5 (-135).
The Sharks should be able to keep this game close since the Capitals’ culd be dragging a little. Expect the Sharks who are a very mediocre 28-25 ATS to start this game behind, but come back to make it close in the end.
Over/Under
LEAN UNDER 6.5 (-110).
The Under is clearly the slightly safer bet here. For Washington the Under is 4-0-1 in their last 5 home games and 6-0-2 in their last 8 games on the end of a back-to-back. In the series between the teams, the Under is also the safer bet, going 9-4-1 in the last 14 meetings in Washington.