Free NHL Picks Today: San Jose Sharks vs Colorado Avalanche 4/4/23

The Colorado Avalanche (45-24-6), one of the league’s top power play offenses, are on the road to face the San Jose Sharks (22-39-15) and their stifling penalty killing defense at SAP Center at San Jose on Tuesday. Colorado is playing their first of four games on the road coming off a 5-2 win over the Stars on Saturday.

The Avalanche committed five penalties in the game, conceding two power play goals. Nathan MacKinnon was the top goalscorer for the Avalanche with two goals. Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists to lead the team in scoring. Alexandar Georgiev had a great performance with 26 saves (.928%) in the win.

San Jose won their third straight game, beating the Coyotes 7-2 on Saturday. Noah Gregor was the leading goal scorer for the Sharks, netting a hat trick. Erik Karlsson had four assists to lead the team in scoring. Kaapo Kahkonen was impressive in the win, making 29 saves (.935%).

HEAD TO HEAD

The Avalanche won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 6-0 victory in March, their fourth straight win against San Jose. Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar each had four points (1G 3A) to lead Colorado. Georgiev saved 13 shots to earn the shutout win.

FACING OFF

Colorado is averaging 3.28 goals per game for the season, 13th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Sharks team that is allowing 3.75 goals a game (30th). Meanwhile, San Jose has found the net 2.92 times a game on average, 23rd in the league, and the Avalanche are allowing opponents to score 2.72 goals per game (7th).

The Avalanche’s second-ranked power play offense (25.32%) will be put to the test against the Sharks, who are the league’s third-best penalty killing team (83.26%). San Jose, meanwhile, has scored on 18.18% of their power play opportunities (26th), which the home team will be aiming to improve on against Colorado’s 16th-ranked 79.13% penalty killing rate.

TOP PERFORMERS:

MacKinnon (97 points), Rantanen (92), and Makar (66) have been the top skaters this season for the Avalanche. MacKinnon is the eighth-leading point scorer in the NHL. Rantanen is among the league leaders with his 49 goals (4th), while MacKinnon is among the league leaders with his 63 assists (8th).

Makar has been another top player for Colorado, scoring 17 and assisting 49. In the net, Pavel Francouz (7-7-1) is Colorado’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 2.53 GAA and a .919% save percentage. Georgiev (35-16-5) leads the Avalanche in games played in goal.

He has a GAA of 2.54 and a save percentage of .918%, fifth-best in the league. Karlsson leads the Sharks in scoring with 95 points. He has 22 goals and 73 assists (3rd). James Reimer (12-18-8) has the best goals against average for San Jose at 3.30. He has a save percentage of .895%.