NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Kraken vs Sharks (Tuesday, January 30)
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) Pictured: Matty Beniers
Kraken vs. Sharks Odds
| Kraken Odds | -218 |
| Sharks Odds | +176 |
| Over / Under | 6 +100 / -120 |
Here's everything you need to know about the Seattle Kraken vs. San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, Jan. 30 – our expert NHL prediction and pick.
This will be the second of four meetings between these teams. Seattle skated away with an easy 7-1 home win back in November and will look for another victory here as the Kraken are two points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference and are 2-0-1 in their past three games.
Meanwhile, the Sharks are going into a back-to-back set as they're slated to play the Ducks in Anaheim on Wednesday. San Jose is one of the weakest teams in the league on home ice, while Seattle has a winning record on the road. So, let's get to my Kraken vs. Sharks prediction.
Amidst a pileup of injuries, the Kraken dealt with four-game losing skid in mid-January. But they're now nearly back to full health, win only veteran forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare still on the sidelines. And they've moved back into the win column with five of a possible six points in their past three games.
The list of now-healthy bodies includes regular starter Philipp Grubauer, who hasn't played since Dec. 9. But Joey Daccord has continued to play well and is at 5.7 goals saved above expected. With the Kraken sitting two points shy of a wild-card spot in the West, coach Dave Hakstol has elected to stay with his hot hand.
Goaltending is important because Seattle sometimes has trouble generating offense — although 13 goals in the past three games is nothing to complain about. Against Columbus on Sunday, Jared McCann became the first Kraken player to reach 20 goals this season.
Seattle's power play is decent, with a success rate of 21.9%, and the Kraken do a good job of controlling 5-on-5 play, with an expected goals share of 51.6%.
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Before falling 5-2 to Buffalo last Saturday, the Sharks had just completed their most successful stretch of hockey all year — stringing together wins over the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers.
The winning streak came as captain Logan Couture finally returned to action after missing the first 45 games of the season with a lower-body injury. He only has one assist so far, but on a team that has struggled as much as the Sharks, his veteran presence in the top six can make a big difference.
Another veteran, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, has also been delivering improved play after having been a healthy scratch often earlier in the season. The 36-year-old is back to logging around 20 minutes a night and has three goals in his past eight games.
The Sharks are missing injured Mario Ferraro, Matt Benning and Henry Thrun from their blue line, and Mikael Granlund up front. Tied with Chicago with a league-low average of 2.08 goals scored per game, the only Sharks players with over 10 goals are Tomas Hertl (15) and Fabian Zetterlund (14).
At 5-on-5, the Sharks rank ahead of only Chicago with 42.77% of expected goals.
San Jose gives up a league-worst 3.92 goals per game, and that number could be even worse if it wasn't for some respectable goaltending from both Kaapo Kahkonen and Mackenzie Blackwood.
Blackwood is set to start on Tuesday. He's at -1.6 goals saved above expected for the year, but has given up just six goals in his past three starts — wins over the Rangers and Ducks, and a shootout loss to the Blackhawks.
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Kraken vs. Sharks
Betting Pick & Prediction
Not surprisingly, the betting markets are heavily favoring the Kraken in this matchup. The road favorites opened at -180 on the moneyline and moved to as low as -225 at some shops on Monday night.
But the lines also suggest that the Sharks are expected to keep it close — they're only -140 on the puckline.
That seems like a bit too much faith in one of the worst-performing teams in the NHL this season — especially in light of the fact that when they visited Climate Pledge Arena back in November, they mustered just 14 shots on goal in a 7-1 loss.
Look for Seattle to log another multi-goal win on Tuesday night.
Pick: Kraken -1.5 Puckline (+120 at DraftKings) | Play to +100
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