Minnesota Wild (26-12-4) vs. San Jose Sharks (13-24-6)
The NHL betting action goes on Saturday, January 11, 2025, with the Minnesota Wild facing off against the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference battle at SAP Center at San Jose with the puck drop at 10:00 PM ET.
Minnesota and San Jose continue their three-game regular-season series. The Wild beat the Sharks 5-2 in San Jose in November. Will the Sharks get revenge? Let’s take a closer look at this Wild vs. Sharks prediction.
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Minnesota is coming off a heavy loss
The Minnesota Wild put an end to their four-game winning streak last Thursday, suffering a 6-1 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Filip Gustavsson had another awful day in the office, surrendering six goals on 27 shots.
Last Tuesday, Minnesota beat St. Louis 6-4, and Gustavsson gave up four goals on just 18 shots. The 26-year-old netminder is now 18-7-3 with a 2.44 GAA and a .918 save percentage in 2024-25, while Marc-Andre Fleury is 8-3-1 with a 2.67 GAA and a .903 save percentage.
Minnesota’s goaltending duo boasts the second-best save percentage in the league. The Wild allow 2.74 goals per game (tied-7th in the NHL) while tallying 3.00 goals in return (tied-16th). They have six players on the injury list, including the team’s top scorer Kirill Kaprizov (G23, A27), and defensemen Brock Faber, Jonas Brodin, and Jared Spurgeon.
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San Jose plays without rest
Friday’s games have been excluded from the analysis, and the San Jose Sharks visited the Utah Hockey Club, looking to bounce back from a 4-2 home defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights. After consecutive home wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 and the New Jersey Devils 3-2, the Sharks failed to cope with the in-form Golden Knights.
San Jose took 21 shots toward Vegas’ goaltender while allowing a staggering 42 shots in return. The Sharks went 2-for-2 with the man advantage, with William Eklund and Timothy Lijegren finding the back of the net.
Alexandar Georgiev gave up three goals on 41 shots against Vegas. He was confirmed for Friday’s clash versus Utah, so we will see Yaroslav Askarov between the pipes on Saturday. Askarov is 3-2-2 with a 2.30 GAA and a .923 save percentage this season. The Sharks have four players on injured reserve, while wingers Fabian Zetterlund and Nikolai Kovalenko are questionable to play against the Wild.
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Best Bets for Minnesota Wild vs. San Jose Sharks
Full-Game Side Bet
Insiders Status:
Kirill Kaprizov’s absence is a massive blow for the Wild. Kaprizov is arguably the best forward in this Minnesota team. With three defensemen listed as questionable, the Wild will have a tall task to satisfy the odds at SAP Center at San Jose even though the Sharks will have to deal with fatigue on the second night of a back-to-back.
I like the Sharks’ chances in this game. Yaroslav Askarov has been outstanding thus far and will look for his third straight victory. The Sharks are 29th in the league in goals against (3.47 per game), but Askarov has only allowed five goals over his previous three starts.
Full-Game Total Pick
Insiders Status:
Minnesota’s offense might start to struggle in Kirill Kaprizov’s absence. Should Yaroslav Askarov continue to impress, we won’t see a lot of goals in this game. Filip Gustavsson can only play better than he did against St. Louis and Colorado, and the Sharks tally just 2.60 goals per game (28th in the NHL).
Both teams have struggled with the man advantage thus far. The Wild are 22nd in the league in power-play percentage (20-for-108), and the Sharks are right behind them (24-for-130). Minnesota is 20th in shooting percentage (10.6%), while San Jose ranks 26th in this category (9.6%).
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