NHL Best Bet: Tuesday, April 19th

While the playoff chase is on around the NHL, there is also some bad hockey being played for those not headed to the post-season. Today, our resident NHL expert Ej Garr has found a tip on the total from the game between San Jose and Columbus as neither side will be competing for the Stanley Cup this season.

NHL Best Bet: Tuesday, April 19th

• San Jose vs. Columbus: Over 6 Goals

Odds as of 9 am April 19th, 2022. Odds may now differ.

San Jose vs. Columbus Best Bet

April 20, 03:30 (UK time)

The Sharks have officially lost their bite as they are now hoping to end a nasty 10-game losing skid having also lost 11 of their last 12 outings. San Jose returns to the SAP Center after a 5-game road trip that saw the Sharks get outscored 17 – 11. Having lost their last 7 straight road games it looks like we might see Kappo Kahkonen between the pipes tonight.

Kahkonen has yet to find a win since joining the Sharks and he also lost his last 6 games before leaving Minnesota. That makes it 13 straight appearances without a win to his credit as he has lost all 7 of his outings wearing the Sharks sweater. Kahkonen gave up no less than 4 goals in all 5 of his first 5 starts with the Sharks but got the start in the 0 – 0 overtime loss to Nashville and lost 2 to 1 against Dallas the last time he saw the ice this past Saturday.

It helps that San Jose is among the best PK units in the NHL as they rank 3rd overall killing 86.1% of their time being short-handed. You wouldn’t expect to see such a strong stat for a team that is simply losing every night lately and having a relatively poor campaign overall.

The obvious statistic that stands out when you scroll over the San Jose roster is the +/- numbers. As a team, there are no players with a + next to their name that has seen enough ice time to speak of their stats for the season. It is hard to win games when you can’t keep at least a few players in the plus and the injury list reads like a M*A*S*H unit. 

Columbus has surrendered 282 goals which are easily the most in the Metropolitan Division. The Jackets have lost 10 of their last 13 games and the last time they took the ice the Ducks scored 6 goals against them. Hi, I said the Ducks scored 6 goals against your team and if you are following hockey this year you know that is nearly impossible to do. The Ducks are just a few points above the Sharks in the Pacific Division standings and they have been without many of their key players most of the season as well.

As you stroll over the last 14 results for the Jackets you will notice that we have seen at least 6 goals in 11 of those affairs and the line setters are keeping this total at 6. Many of the unders the Jackets have seen hit this year have simply been games with 6.5s listed on the total but there were still 6 goals more often than not, in fact. In this case, with one goalie struggling to find his first win with San Jose and no goalie playing worth their weight in salt for Columbus? We suggest this Over 6 which is listed at 2.02 still holding value at about even money for our action.

• Selection: Over 6 Goals
• Best Odds: 2.04 (Unibet)
• Stakes 4/10

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