Sharks vs Golden Knights

Vegas stumbles into this one on a four-game losing streak and nine losses in its last 13, while San Jose has quietly taken three of its past five, including Friday’s 3-2 home win over Vancouver keyed by Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Adam Gaudette, before hopping a short flight to Vegas for the back-to-back. Significant injuries tilt the depth picture slightly toward the Golden Knights: the Sharks are still without Logan Couture on long-term injured reserve and have Jeff Skinner and rookie Michael Misa sidelined, thinning their forward options, whereas Vegas’ only current listed injury is depth defender Jeremy Lauzon, leaving their top six and goaltending rotation intact. Despite the recent form gap, the all-time regular-season series has been brutally one-sided, with the Golden Knights owning a 28-2-5 record against San Jose and a 137–74 goal differential, and they reinforced that dominance as recently as January with Mark Stone posting a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over the Sharks. With Jack Eichel (31 points), Stone, Pavel Dorofeyev and Mitch Marner driving a power play north of 23% and still outscoring opponents 71–69 on the season, Vegas’ offensive ceiling remains higher than San Jose’s, even with Celebrini pacing the Sharks at 36 points and Yaroslav Askarov stabilizing their crease. Given the Knights’ historical matchup edge at T-Mobile Arena, their healthier roster, and the fact that both teams are on a back-to-back but Vegas avoids travel, I’m still laying the price with the Golden Knights moneyline at -300, though the recent funk and limited payout keep this at a solid but not elite B-grade recommendation. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 29/11/2025 09:41am

Even with both clubs on back-to-backs and showing some defensive wobble lately, I lean to the under 6.5 at -120 because the underlying profiles point more toward a 4-2 type game than a wide-open track meet. San Jose is averaging 2.91 goals per game and 2.91 expected-ish offense on modest shot volume, while allowing roughly 3.4 goals against; Vegas sits at 71 goals for and 69 against across 23 games, so both teams land right around six combined goals per night rather than consistently clearing seven. The special teams are dangerous but not extreme outliers: the Sharks’ power play is around 18% and Vegas’ man-advantage is just under 24%, strong but not in the territory that routinely blows totals past key numbers, especially with both penalty kills hovering around 80%. In goal, Yaroslav Askarov has quietly delivered a 3.03 GAA and .908 save percentage with excellent splits in wins, while Akira Schmid has been above-average for Vegas at 2.45 GAA and .902 despite taking a couple of recent losses, and both teams tend to tighten their structure after ugly defensive outings like Colorado’s 6-0 demolition of San Jose and the Habs’ 4-1 win in Vegas. With fatigue on both sides somewhat canceling out, the Knights’ preference under Bruce Cassidy for structured home games and the market already shading the under at the more expensive price, I’ll ride Under 6.5 (-120) with a B- grade, acknowledging that late special-teams spikes and empty-net chaos always add variance at this number. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 29/11/2025 09:41am

For the puckline, I prefer grabbing San Jose +1.5 at -105, banking on this staying within one goal even if Vegas ultimately snaps its skid. The Knights’ recent slide has featured a string of tight results—overtime and shootout losses to Anaheim and Ottawa and then a relatively close 4-1 game against Montreal where they trailed 3-0 late—suggesting they’re not consistently blowing teams out, while the Sharks have been far more competitive this month outside of the Colorado no-show, grinding out one-goal decisions like Friday’s 3-2 win over Vancouver behind Askarov’s 32 saves. San Jose’s blue line, bolstered by Dmitry Orlov, John Klingberg, Nick Leddy and Mario Ferraro, still bleeds shots but has raised the floor in front of Askarov enough that they can hang around against higher-talent rosters, and Vegas’ only notable injury (Lauzon) keeps their strength focused on skill rather than extra physicality on the third pair. Historically, the matchup has been heavily tilted toward Vegas, but many of those 28 wins over the Sharks have been by narrow margins, and with this year’s Sharks core driven by Celebrini, Will Smith and William Eklund skating meaningful minutes together, San Jose finally has the offensive punch to trade chances with Eichel, Stone and Marner rather than getting buried early. Given that both teams are on a back-to-back, the Knights are in the heavier pressure spot at home trying to halt a four-game slide, and the plus-goal-and-a-half gives us multiple paths to cash (road outright win, OT loss or a single-goal regulation defeat), I rate Sharks +1.5 (-105) as the most attractive value on the board with a B+ grade. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 29/11/2025 09:41am