NHL Thursday best bets: Back the Kraken in San Jose

Our lone side of the night suffered defeat in crushing fashion Wednesday. The Sabres led 2-0, 3-1, and 4-2 in Washington but blew it in the dying seconds of the game before eventually losing in a shootout. Gross!

We'll aim to get that taste out of our mouth with a pair of plays for Thursday's 11-gamer. Let's get right to them.

The Sharks are in it to win it. The Connor Bedard sweepstakes, that is.

They have underperformed based on their five-on-five process for much of the season due to unfathomably bad goaltending. Now that they've traded star winger Timo Meier, as well as depth forwards Nick Bonino and Matt Nieto, the team is underwhelming across the board. The process is bad and the goaltending is more likely to throw San Jose an anchor than a life raft.

As a result, we are seeing truly miserable hockey from the Sharks post-deadline.

They've won one of just six games since March 3. They rank 30th in expected goals against and dead last in goals against on a per 60-minute basis in that span.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know a bad goaltending tandem is not going to hold up behind a team bleeding chances. That's what we're seeing right now.

While these games don't matter one iota to the Sharks, they're crucial for the Kraken. They're in a heated wild-card race and still fighting to move up a slot or two in the Pacific Division. With a win tonight, and some help, they could wake up tomorrow just four points behind the Kings for a slot that would earn them home-ice advantage.

The Kraken are a deeper and more talented team with a lot to play for. I expect that to shine through in this game as they take care of business inside 60 minutes.

Bet: Kraken in regulation (-110)

I thought the wrong team was favored at open, and the market seems to agree, with the Flames now being slight favorites in Vegas. I still see value on them at this price, though.

Although it may sound crazy to say the 30-win Flames should be favored on the road against the 42-win Golden Knights, the latter is something of a paper tiger right now.

The Golden Knights own an impressive 6-1 record since the deadline. That doesn't mean they've played well.

At five-on-five, they rank dead last in expected goal share and have conceded xGA at a higher rate than every team in the league. Vegas also slots in the bottom five in high-danger chances against, surrounded by teams like the Blue Jackets and Capitals. Not ideal.

The Golden Knights generated more than 30 shots just once during this 6-1 stretch. They have simply shot the lights out - their shooting percentage sits just under 14% - while the goaltending has been great at the other end.

The opposite is true of the Flames. They are routinely outplaying their opponents, dominating the run of play and generating chances in bulk. They just can't put the puck in the net.

Even if their style of play isn't conducive to high shooting percentages, I think there's room for positive regression there, especially when going up against Adin Hill or Jonathan Quick.

If the desperate Flames can come out and generate, say, 10 more shots than they give up against a Golden Knights side getting cratered at five-on-five, I'm happy to take my chances it'll lead to a positive result.

Quick getting the start here would be ideal - aside from the last couple of games, he has struggled mightily all year - but I see an edge on the Flames regardless.

Bet: Flames (-115)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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