The San Jose Sharks visit the Arizona Coyotes Thursday at Gila River Arena in the 2021 season-opener for both teams. Puck drop will be at 9 p.m. ET between the West Division rivals. Below, we analyze the Sharks-Coyotes NHL betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Sharks at Coyotes: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:45 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Sharks +110 (bet $100 to win $110) | Coyotes -130 (bet $130 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Sharks +1.5 (-250) | Coyotes -1.5 (+200)
- Over/Under: 5.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
Sharks at Coyotes: Projected starting goalies
Martin Jones (17-21-2, .896 SV%, 3.00 GAA) vs. Darcy Kuemper (16-11-2, .928 SV%, 2.22 GAA)
Jones had an awful 2019-20 season with a career-worst goals against average. Devan Dubnyk was brought in to back him up this season, but Jones figures to get the first crack at the No. 1 job early on.
Kuemper was stellar last season but was limited to just 29 games in the regular season. He made nine playoff starts with a .913 save percentage but 3.47 GAA. He was required to make 40-plus saves in three of those nine games.
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Sharks at Coyotes: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Sharks 4, Coyotes 3
Money line (ML)
The SHARKS (+110) are coming off a nightmare 2019-20 season in which they went 29-36-5 over 70 games and finished last in the Pacific Division. C Joe Thornton followed W Joe Pavelski out the door via free agency, but Logan Couture, Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl all return to lead the forward group and Patrick Marleau returns after leaving following the 2016-17 season. The Coyotes lost LW Taylor Hall to free agency.
The Sharks defense, led by Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic is a supposed strength, at least on the offensive end of the ice.
Chase the value in what hopes to be a bounce-back season for San Jose. The Sharks had made the playoffs in 14 of 15 seasons before last year’s disaster.
Against the spread (ATS)
I’m OK paying up for the SHARKS +1.5 (-250) for one goal of insurance in the event of a loss. The Coyotes won the 2019-20 season series 2-1, but one of those victories was decided by just a 3-2 score.
Over/Under (O/U)
The OVER 5.5 (-115) is the play in what should be expected to be a sloppy game based on the play seen around the NHL in Wednesday’s season-openers. The lack of preseason will have a more negative affect on defensive play than offense in the early going.
There are plenty of forwards in this game capable of capitalizing on mistakes and defensive zone turnovers.
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