The Dallas Stars (22-9-6), one of the league’s top power play offenses, host the San Jose Sharks (11-19-7) and their suffocating penalty killing defense at American Airlines Center on Saturday. San Jose is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss against the Flyers on Thursday.
The Sharks committed only one penalty in the game, holding Philadelphia without a power play goal. Tomas Hertl was the top goalscorer for the Sharks with two goals. Kaapo Kahkonen only had 22 saves on 26 shots against (.846%) in the loss.
Dallas won for the third straight game, beating the Wild 4-1 on Thursday. Tyler Seguin scored twice to lead the Stars. Jake Oettinger saved 23 of 24 shots in the win (.958%).
HEAD TO HEAD
The Sharks won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 5-4 victory in November. Four players had two points for San Jose. Jamie Benn (2G 0A), Joe Pavelski (1G 1A), and Jason Robertson (0G 2A) each had two points to lead Dallas. James Reimer got the win despite saving only 25 of 29 shots (.862%).
FACING OFF
San Jose is averaging 3.03 goals per game for the season, 24th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Stars team that is allowing 2.70 goals a game (7th).
Meanwhile, Dallas has found the net 3.57 times a game on average, third in the league, and will be looking to capitalize on the Sharks’ weak defense, which is allowing opponents to score 3.65 goals per game (28th).
The Stars’ fifth-ranked power play offense (27.83%) will face a challenging test against the Sharks, who are the league’s best penalty killing team (85.05%). San Jose, meanwhile, has scored on 23.08% of their power play opportunities (15th), which the visiting team will be looking to improve on against Dallas’ fourth-ranked 83.33% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 50 points this season, seventh-most in the NHL, Erik Karlsson is the top skater for the Sharks. He is among the league leaders with 37 assists (4th) and has added 13 goals of his own. In the net, Reimer (7-10-3) is San Jose’s top goaltender by goals against average.
He has a 3.14 GAA and a .898% save percentage.Robertson leads the Stars in scoring with 52 points (3rd in the league). He has 24 goals (4th in the league) and 28 assists in 37 games. Oettinger (15-5-3) has the best goals against average for Dallas at 2.43. He has a save percentage of .919%.
HOME AND AWAY
San Jose is 7-9-1 on the road this season. Dallas is 10-4-3 at American Airlines Center this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Dallas Stars (-250)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
