| Free NHL Pick: Minnesota Wild at San Jose Sharks |
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| Written by Steve Hastings | |||||||
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Wednesday, 19 March 2008
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 BetOnline.com has the San Jose Sharks -165 odds favorites against the Minnesota Wild +145 with the over/under set at 5 goals. The Sharks are among the best teams in the NHL in goals allowed this season. Why? Evgeni Nabokov. The star goalie is a serious Vezina candidate and was largely responsible for San Jose's 11-game winning streak, which ended after Sunday's 2-1 shoo out loss to the Oilers. Nabokov has been brilliant, especially in March, where he has a 6-0-1 record, 1.80 goals against average and .920 save percentage. Coupled with an offense that has looked impressive as of late – youngster Milan Michalek has three goals and four points in his last four games – and it's no surprise San Jose has moved into second-place in the Western Conference.An inability to win close games recently could cost Minnesota the Northwest Division or even a playoff spot. The Wild, who are being closely pursued by Calgary, Colorado and Vancouver, lost five straight games before beating Los Angeles 2-0 on Saturday night. Of those five games, one was settled by two goals, the rest by a single goal, including three shoot out losses. Some action on the power play might help, as Minnesota is just two for its last 29 with the man-advantage. Minnesota has lost all three match-ups with San Jose this season. Considering the last-place Kings seem to be the only team the Wild can beat right now, the Sharks should get another win. Get your Free NHL Pick in Now! Minnesota at San Jose, Wednesday @ 10:30 p.m. ET Free NHL Pick: San Jose It's not too late to get into the NHL betting action. Visit BetOnline.com's world-renowned sportsbook today!                        |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 March 2008 ) | |||||||