San Jose Sharks at Edmonton Oilers (120, 5.5)
A five-game losing streak has thrown a wrench in the Sharks’ playoff plans, dropping San Jose to ninth and out of the postseason picture in the Western Conference.
San Jose has a tough back-to-back set in Western Canada, first taking on a young Oilers team that would love to play spoiler. Edmonton has won the last two meetings with the Sharks, taking both victories in a shootout, most recently winning 3-2 in San Jose on March 6.
San Jose’s losing streak has fingers pointing all over the place, most notably at goaltender Antti Niemi. However, as porous as his efforts have been, the Sharks’ scoring is just as weak.
San Jose has totaled just six goals in the last five games, including two shutouts. They were blanked by Phoenix Saturday, despite out-shooting the Coyotes 42-29.
The powerless power play could have something to do with that. San Jose has gone six games without a goal on the man advantage, going 0 for 13 in that span.
Pick: Oilers ---
Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres (-155, 5)
The Sabres still have a heartbeat in the Eastern Conference playoff race, winning five of their last seven games to sit tied for ninth.
Montreal, which rest in the basement of the conference, wraps a four-game road trip in Buffalo and has a chance to win three in a row for just the third time this season. The Canadiens beat the Sabres 4-3 in a shootout on Feb. 17 – the first time they bested their Northeast rivals in eight meetings.
Buffalo is primed for a run at the final postseason ticket in the Eastern Conference, but may run out of bodies before the regular season ends. The Sabres’ 4-3 shootout win over Ottawa was dampened by injuries to wingers Matt Ellis (lower body) and Patrick Kaleta (neck).
Buffalo is already without second-leading scorer Thomas Vanek, who left Thursday’s loss to Boston with an upper-body injury. All three forwards are listed as questionable for Monday’s game.
Pick: Under push
A five-game losing streak has thrown a wrench in the Sharks’ playoff plans, dropping San Jose to ninth and out of the postseason picture in the Western Conference.
San Jose has a tough back-to-back set in Western Canada, first taking on a young Oilers team that would love to play spoiler. Edmonton has won the last two meetings with the Sharks, taking both victories in a shootout, most recently winning 3-2 in San Jose on March 6.
San Jose’s losing streak has fingers pointing all over the place, most notably at goaltender Antti Niemi. However, as porous as his efforts have been, the Sharks’ scoring is just as weak.
San Jose has totaled just six goals in the last five games, including two shutouts. They were blanked by Phoenix Saturday, despite out-shooting the Coyotes 42-29.
The powerless power play could have something to do with that. San Jose has gone six games without a goal on the man advantage, going 0 for 13 in that span.
Pick: Oilers ---
Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres (-155, 5)
The Sabres still have a heartbeat in the Eastern Conference playoff race, winning five of their last seven games to sit tied for ninth.
Montreal, which rest in the basement of the conference, wraps a four-game road trip in Buffalo and has a chance to win three in a row for just the third time this season. The Canadiens beat the Sabres 4-3 in a shootout on Feb. 17 – the first time they bested their Northeast rivals in eight meetings.
Buffalo is primed for a run at the final postseason ticket in the Eastern Conference, but may run out of bodies before the regular season ends. The Sabres’ 4-3 shootout win over Ottawa was dampened by injuries to wingers Matt Ellis (lower body) and Patrick Kaleta (neck).
Buffalo is already without second-leading scorer Thomas Vanek, who left Thursday’s loss to Boston with an upper-body injury. All three forwards are listed as questionable for Monday’s game.
Pick: Under push
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