Picks: Wild beat Sharks, clinch last spot in West
Welcome to NHL Picks where CBSSports.com hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz make their predictions for all of the day’s games.
San Jose Sharks at Minnesota Wild, 8 p.m. ET
As of right now there is only one open playoff spot still in play in the Western Conference. The Minnesota Wild can change that with a win over the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night. The Wild missed their most recent opportunity to clinch, but will be on home ice with the chance to claim their fourth consecutive playoff berth and eliminate the Colorado Avalanche. All they have to do is beat San Jose, which is easier said than done.
Minnesota missed their most recent opportunity by getting rolled over by the already-eliminated Winnipeg Jets on the road. They’ve lost three straight coming into Tuesday night’s game against the Sharks and need to get back on track before embarking on what is sure to be a tough first-round matchup in the postseason.
The Sharks certainly won’t make clinching easy, either. San Jose has won three of their last four games and will be looking to set a franchise record for road wins Tuesday night. With this being their last road game, it will be their last chance to nab a 28th road victory, which would surpass the old franchise mark by one.
James Reimer is expected to start in goal. He is 5-2-0 in seven starts since being traded to the Sharks and owns a .927 save percentage. Meanwhile, Brent Burns has continued his impressively productive season. The former Wild rearguard has 10 points over his last eight games and still has an outside shot at a rare 30-goal season from the blue line. He’d need to get on his horse, though, as he has 27 goals and just three games left on the schedule.
Over on the other side, Devan Dubnyk is expected to get the nod in net as the Wild look to clinch. He has allowed 10 goals over his last three starts as Minnesota has been skidding. Dubnyk’s season save percentage has dropped to .918, much closer to his career average than the absurd .936 mark he compiled in 39 starts with the Wild last season. Dubnyk hasn’t hurt the team by any means, but he’s just not able to steal games with the regularity he could last season. They’ll need him to be big in Tuesday night’s contest to close things out.
The Wild could also use a big performance out of Zach Parise, who has been the squad’s most consistent producer over this recent stretch. The veteran forward has 12 points over his last 10 games and is currently riding a three-game points streak. Meanwhile, the Wild hope to have defenseman Jared Spurgeon back in the lineup against San Jose after he missed two games with a lower-body injury.
The matchup seems to favor the Sharks, who own the best road record in the NHL and continue to surge while the Wild are backsliding. However, Minnesota should be playing with a little more urgency after failing to clinch a playoff spot Sunday and needing to get out of this late-season slide. That sense of urgency could be the difference in the game against the high-powered Sharks. Pick: Wild 3, Sharks 2
Zach Parise (right) has been lighting it up for the Wild lately. (USATSI)
The rest of Tuesday’s picks
Bruins 4, Hurricanes 3
Predators 3, Avalanche 1
Ducks 4, Jets 2
