San Jose is one of the top teams in the NHL, and they have done it through excellent team defense further strengthened by quality goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who is having a stellar season. As a result, not only are the Sharks winning, but their games tend to be consistently low-scoring, rarely going higher than the natural NHL average of 5. So far in March in fact, only one out of San Jose’s eight games has seen more than 5 goals scored, and even in February, only three of their games went over that number with just one out of their 11 road games in February and March going over 5. Any way you slice it, the Sharks are a reliably low-scoring team, and sure to continue playing that way as it has been so successful for them in the won/lost columns.

The key to this game however is Los Angeles’ goaltending situation. Jason LaBarbera was the starter for most of the year, and he did not perform well at all. LaBarbera had a GAA of 3.00, and the Kings were an embarrassment on defense, losing their way to one of the worst records in the NHL and playing games with big final scoring figures. But LaBarbera recently went down with an injury, and the nature of the team seems to have significantly changed since then.

Swedish rookie Erik Ersberg stepped in as LaBarbera’s replacement with little notice taken, but Ersberg has risen to the occasion impressively. The Kings seem to hunker down on defense when Ersberg is in goal, and as a result five of his seven games so far have had five or fewer goals scored. I look for this change in goal, combined with the stellar defense of the Sharks to combine for yet another low-scoring affair...get on the under of 5.5. here for this one!

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Pick : Under 5.5 Goals
Odds : 1.80
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : Bookmaker
Match Result : 1-2
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