Calgary Flames at San Jose Sharks NHL Picks & Predictions 12/28/2017

Thursday, December 28, 2017

SAP Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Calgary Flames travel to SAP Center to play the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, December 28, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Flames at +122 and the Sharks at -135.

Calgary has a record of 18-15-3 this season and on the road they have a record of 9-4-3-2. They are 5th in the Pacific Division. They've scored 101 goals and given up 106 goals for a point differential of -5. For the season they have an ATS record of 18-18-0 and an over/under record of 16-19-0. San Jose has a record of 19-11-4 including 11-6-2-1 at home this season. They are 3rd in the Pacific Division. They've scored 95 goals and surrendered 84 for a goal differential of +11. Their record against the spread is 19-15-0 while their over/under record is 11-22-0.

Valuable Calgary Flames Betting Trends

The Calgary Flames are 18-18-0 straight up this year

The Calgary Flames are 16-19-0 against the over/under this season

Important San Jose Sharks Betting Trends

The San Jose Sharks are 19-15-0 straight up this year

The San Jose Sharks are 11-22-0 against the over/under this season

Key Calgary Flames Injuries

12/22/17 RW Jaromir Jagr Lower Body is "?" Thursday vs San Jose
12/22/17 D Travis Hamonic Lower Body IR (12/20)
12/01/17 RW Kris Versteeg Lower Body IR (11/24)

Key San Jose Sharks Injuries

12/24/17 C Logan Couture Concussion is out indefinitely
12/10/17 RW Barclay Goodrow Lower Body IR (12/08)

Player Spotlight

Mike Smith has 14 wins and 12 losses this season in net for the Flames. He has 950 shots against him and he's given up 77 goals. He's made 873 saves for a save percentage of 92%. Sean Monahan has accumulated 32 total points this season for the Flames. He has 17 goals this year with 94 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 18%. He has a total of 15 assists on the season and averages 18.5 minutes played per game. Johnny Gaudreau averages 19.1 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 13 goals on 107 shots. He has 28 assists, giving him a total of 41 points on the season.

Player Spotlight

Joe Thornton has scored 25 total points this year for the Sharks. He has 7 goals this season with 60 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 18 assists on the season and averages 18.4 minutes played per game. Martin Jones has 12 wins and 8 losses this year in goal for the Sharks. He has 675 shots against him and he's surrendered 57 goals. He's made 618 saves for a save percentage of 92%. Joe Thornton averages 18.4 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 7 goals on 60 shots. He has 18 assists, giving him a total of 25 points on the season.

Useful Team Statistics

The Flames have allowed 116 power play opportunities and have given up 26 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78% this year. That is 25th in the NHL. They average 33 shots per game and as a team shoot 8.52% for the season. They allow 31 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is ranked 18th in the league. The Flames has 39 total points this season, ranking 17th in the NHL in offense. They are 22nd in the league with 101 goals while they've given up 106 goals, which is 15th overall. They have had 126 power play opportunities and scored 22 goals on those chances for a percentage of 17%. That is 21st in the NHL.

Useful Team Statistics

As a team, the Sharks are 28th with 95 goals scored while they are 31st in the NHL with 84 goals allowed this year. They average 33 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 8.58%. They give up 30 shots per game and have a save percentage of 92%, putting them in 5th place in the league. The Sharks have a total of 42 points this year, which is 15th in the NHL. They have 27 power play goals on 122 opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That ranks their power play unit 8th. They've allowed 111 power play opportunities and have given up 15 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 86%, which is 2nd overall.

Advanced Statistics

Calgary has a Corsi percentage of 52.7% as they've tried 2,302 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,068 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 3rd in Corsi percentage. They are 7th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 51.8% as they have 1,700 shots while they've given up 1,584 attempts on defense. The Flames start possessions in the offensive zone 52.8% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.2% for the year. That puts them 9th and 23rd in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,093 face-off wins as opposed to 1,108 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.7%. That is 15th overall in the NHL. On defense Calgary has 605 hits and they've blocked 484 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 25th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Sharks are 7th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 54.2% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 45.8% for the season, which is 26th in the NHL. They have 1,041 face-off wins compared to 988 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.3%. That is 13th in the league. On defense San Jose has 630 hits and they have blocked 534 shots from the opposition, which is 15th in the league. San Jose is 5th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 52.9% as they've attempted 2,156 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,918 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 53.2% ranks 4th as they have 1,572 attempts while they have given up 1,384 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Flames/Sharks NHL game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take San Jose -135

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