The San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames are miles and miles apart from each other in the standings. That being said, it’s actually the Sharks who own the upper hand in the head-to-head matchup between these teams in the regular season. Calgary will look to snap their losing skid against the Sharks tonight, but will San Jose bite Johnny Hockey and company anew? With that said, it’s a good time to check out our NHL odds series, which includes our Sharks-Flames prediction, odds, and pick we have laid out below.

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Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Sharks-Flames odds:

NHL odds: Sharks-Flames Odds

Sharks: +1.5 (-106)

Flames: -1.5 (-114)

Over: 6.0 (-110)

Under: 6.0 (-110)

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Why the Sharks Could Cover the Spread

The Sharks made some noise at the 2022 NHL trade deadline but the moves they’ve made weren’t drastic enough to significantly alter their short-term prospects of making the playoffs, much less win the Stanley Cup. Where the Sharks could draw confidence for an upcoming battle with Calgary is off its 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at home last Sunday. That victory snapped a three-game losing skid for the Sharks, who are 3-2-1 in their last six outings. It was good for the Sharks to find their offensive rhythm in the Arizona game, especially heading into a tough assignment versus an elite team like Calgary later tonight.

On the season, the Sharks are averaging only 2.6 goals for per game, but they seem to be more accurate with their shots when up against the Flames this season. Although the Flames are the better team on paper and have the record and stats to back that up, it can’t be denied that San Jose is undefeated this season when up against Calgary. The Sharks beat the Flames back in November on the road (4-1) and then again in December at home (5-3). Tomas Hertl will look to hurt the Flames again after scoring a hat trick in the December meeting with Calgary, and that could largely depend on how well the Sharks will drive the puck down the ice for quality shots.

The Sharks are 17th in the NHL in terms of 5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Changes percentage (49.6%) but are 27th in High-Danger Chance goals scored (42). Then again, the Sharks just play differently when sharing the ice with Calgary. San Jose is 5-1 in its last six games against the Flames.

Why the Flames Could Cover the Spread

After a gut-wrenching 1-0 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres at home Friday, the Flames got back up by nailing a 5-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks last Saturday. That’s a nice way for the Flames to send themselves to two full days of rest, ahead of a home date with a team they have swung and missed twice against, so far this season. Perhaps the Sharks were just lucky that they played those two games against Calgary in 2021 because the 2022 version of the Flames has become a whole lot more terrifying. In fact, only nine of Calgary’s 38 non-overtime losses this season have happened after the calendar flipped to 2022.

Since January, the Flames are 22-9-2 to go with an excellent 55.7 CF% – also the same mark they have for the entire season, which is second-best overall in the NHL. Speaking of which, despite losing two games already this season to San Jose, the Flames still managed to dominate the possession battle in those contests; they outshot the Sharks in the first meeting, 38-26, and also in the most recent one, 43-27. It boils down to conversion for the Flames, who have proven over and over again this season that they can put themselves in terrific scoring positions on a consistent basis.

Calgary is second in the league so far this season with a 56.3 SCF% and No. 1 with a 56.3 HDF% (both in 5-on-5 metrics).  The Flames can exploit the Sharks’ penalty kill, which has been dependable for most of the season but is floundering lately. In its last three games,  San Jose has allowed three power-play goals in nine opponents’ chances on the man advantage.

Final Sharks-Flames Prediction & Pick

The Flames are going to exorcise their demons here and finally break through with a powerful performance against San Jose to show just how big of a gap is there between them and the Sharks. Calgary will once again win the possession battle by a wide margin while Jacob Markström rebounds from his poor performance in the Buffalo game and shuts down San Jose. Taking the Sharks to cover the puck line here.

Final Sharks-Flames Pick: Sharks +1.5 (-106)