San Jose Sharks @ St. Louis Blues - November 21, 2024

As the San Jose Sharks prepare to take on the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center, fans can expect an intriguing matchup that highlights both teams’ struggles and strengths. The Blues opened as -196 favorites, but given their recent form, this game could be closer than the odds suggest.

The Blues have been underwhelming lately, suffering a 4-2 loss against the Minnesota Wild in their last home outing. This defeat marked their sixth straight loss, leaving them with a record of 8-11-1 for the season. Offensively, they average just 2.444 goals per game while firing off about 25.8 shots—a shooting percentage of only 9.8%. Their power play has also been lackluster, converting at just over 15% with an average of two chances per game.

Defensively, St. Louis has shown some resilience with an impressive save percentage of 88.3%, coupled with a penalty kill rate of nearly 78%. However, these numbers might not inspire confidence considering their overall performance lately.

On the other hand, the Sharks come into this game with a record of 6-11-4 after suffering a heavy defeat (5-2) against the Dallas Stars in their previous contest. Despite being lower in overall standings compared to St. Louis, San Jose has demonstrated some competitive spirit recently by covering the spread in five out of their last six games—an indication that they can stay close even if they don’t always secure wins.

San Jose’s offense is slightly more productive than St. Louis’, averaging around 2.474 goals per game and taking approximately 27.7 shots on net per contest—though their shooting percentage lags behind at about 9%. They do have a better power play conversion rate than St. Louis at roughly 16%, which could prove critical if they get opportunities tonight.

Defensively, San Jose boasts an impressive save percentage (89.6%) and a solid penalty kill rate (81%). These stats suggest that while both teams struggle offensively at times, San Jose may have an edge when it comes to stopping pucks from getting past them.

Given these trends and statistics leading up to this matchup, I predict that while St. Louis will likely emerge victorious due to home ice advantage and historical performance metrics against weaker opponents like San Jose—they may not cover the spread given their current form and offensive woes.

I anticipate a tightly contested battle where scoring will be limited; therefore, I’m leaning towards betting on the UNDER for total goals scored tonight as both teams grapple with inconsistent offensive outputs amidst strong defensive efforts.

In summary: expect St. Louis to win but for San Jose to cover; anticipate fewer goals than expected based on prior performances from both squads.