San Jose vs Chicago Prediction: the Sharks Won't Let Their Fourth Loss

Prediction for the NHL San Jose vs Chicago match, which will take place on October 16. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

San Jose is an outsider, which seemed to start rebuilding its roster, but never really did, so the Sharks' prospects are unclear. All the same, the Californians proved themselves in the preseason with five wins in six games, which made them believe in themselves. Alas, not for long. As soon as the official games began, the results became routine. For starters, David Quinn's team lost both of their games in Prague to Nashville, 1:4 and 2:3, and the day before, they lost on their home ice to Carolina, 1:2. Zero points in three games is already a confirmation that the Sharks' problems have not been solved.

Chicago is in an even more dire staffing situation as they embarked on a global personnel rebuild, except that the Hawks still haven't parted with their two main assets. The seniors Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are still with the team, but they scattered the rest of the roster among the clubs in the league. The loss of Dominik Kubalík, Dylan Strome, and Alex DeBrincat, still young but already among the top scorers, will be especially painful for the Red and Blacks. Now we have to live without them, and Luke Richardson's charges have already been lost to Colorado and Vegas, 2:5 and 0:1, respectively, in their regular season debut.

San Jose and Chicago are two Western Conference underdogs who have played a combined total of five games and gained no points. At the end of the upcoming battle, at least one team will definitely get the first points, and the closest will be the Sharks. David Quinn has a more balanced and skillful squad that has been in place for a while now, and they've won nearly every game in the preseason while the Hawks have lost.

San Jose and Chicago are unlikely to face big challenges. There is a high probability that they will never interfere in the battle for a playoff spot, so in a head-to-head rivalry they have an excuse to play bright and attacking hockey, trying to enjoy the process. That's often how they play each other, as evidenced by their statistics: In their last 11 faceoffs, they've sent 81 goals against each other (7.36 average).

Erik Karlsson is one of the NHL's most stellar defensemen, who played 96 games in the 2015/16 season and earned recorded a cosmic 89 points (19 pucks + 70 assists). He had a couple more years of action after that, but after his move to San Jose his scoring output plummeted and injuries became one after another. The Swedish defenceman played in only 50 games in the last regular season where he scored 35 points (10 goals + 25 assists) which is not too bad for a representative of the league's outsiders.

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