San Jose Sharks Favored Tonight

I found an article this morning that did a good job of recapping the first two games between the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators. The most interesting part of the article was about the odds on tonight's game and the series as a whole. I wasn't very surprised to see that Team Teal is favored tonight given that they have home ice advantage in conjunction with Alexander Radulov's suspension. However, what was a bit surprising is that the Predators are still favored to win the series.

Let's assume that the odds on tonight's game play out (knock on wood); that would mean the Sharks would have the 2 - 1 series lead as well as momentum over the last four games if needed. In other words, San Jose would only need to win two of the next four games to take the series while Nashville would have to win three. Granted, this would be a tough task, but it is definitely possible given the way JP Dumont has been playing. In fact, given the overall series odds, it looks like the odds makers think that Nashville will do it.

Based on the odds, if the Sharks win tonight, the Predators will still be favored to win the series. However, if the Sharks lose tonight, I'd imagine that the Predators would be even more favored to take Round One. So this begs the question: What the hell do the Sharks need to do to be favored in this series?!

Am I interpreting this scenario incorrectly? Is San Jose doomed regardless of how they perform? Are the odds on one game mutually exclusive from the odds on the series itself? Can the outcome of a hockey series really be forecasted correctly based on odds found in a casino?

Well, I don't know the real answers to these questions, but I do know that hockey is not played on paper or in a casino. I guess we will just have to watch them play; fortunately for us fans, this series has been exciting for both teams.

A San Jose Sharks Blog