The San Jose Sharks will look to snap their nine-game losing streak when they sqaure off against the Vancouver Canucks Monday evening.

The 32nd-ranked Sharks are massive underdogs as they will be playing night two of a back-to-back and are quietly dealing with a number of significant injuries. The Canucks will look to improve their record of 16-15-8 on home ice, as they play their penultimate game of a tumultuous season.

I’ll detail the relevant game notes, as well as outline my favourite betting angle below.

At 20-49-11, the Sharks are guaranteed to finish dead last in the NHL and will have every incentive to author a surprising win in this matchup, particularly as North Vancouver native Macklin Celebrini would surely love to get a win at Rogers Arena.

With a total of 51 points, the Sharks have already improved upon last season’s total of 47 points, but they are certainly limping to the finish line with a record of 3-11-2 since the trade deadline.

Prior to trading away top defender Jake Walman at the deadline, it was already difficult to dispute that the Sharks had the worst defensive core in the NHL. The Sharks’ defence corps is currently quite banged up, as Mario Ferraro, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Vincent Desharnais, and Jack Thompson are all likely to miss this game.

Ferraro and Mukhamadullin rank first and third in average time on ice for the Sharks since the trade deadline, so their losses from a very thin defensive core are significant.

Over the last 10 games, the Sharks hold an expected goal share of 38.17%, which ranks dead last in the league and is to be expected considering the talent remaining on the roster. They have allowed 4.11 xGA/60 in that span and 44.56 shots against per 60.

Despite the team’s struggles, Celebrini has finished the season in strong form with 20 points over his last 20 games. He would certainly be a worthy Calder Trophy winner in the majority of NHL seasons, but Lane Hutson is now a massive -1400 favourite to take home the award entering today’s slate.

As Georgi Romanov started last night’s matchup versus the Calgary Flames, Alexandar Georgiev is expected to get the start in this game. Georgiev holds an .872 save percentage and 3.79 GAA average in 47 appearances this season.

Canucks fans probably didn’t mind watching the team’s third period collapse versus the Minnesota Wild Saturday evening, as it put a gigantic dent in the rival Flames hopes of stealing the final playoff berth. The overtime defeat was Vancouver’s 14th loss in three-on-three or shootout this season, which is the most in the NHL.

While there are plenty of flaws to point to that caused the Canucks’ disappointing playoff absence, it’s definitely a painful thought to consider that if they were better at shootouts and three-on-three hockey, they would be a playoff team.

Though it was partly game script dependent, the Canucks looked far more complacent in Saturday’s game versus the Wild than they have in the majority of recent matchups, as they managed just 14 shots on goal. Marcus Petersson showed some offensive flair with a pretty finish early in the first before Jake DeBrusk made it 2-0 with a power play goal midway through the second. From there on out, it was one-way traffic as the Wild poured it on, before finally tying it up with 6:46 left in the third period.

With two points in this matchup, Quinn Hughes would move past Alex Edler to become the Canucks all-time leading point scorer among defenders and would give himself a small chance of hitting the 80-point plateau once again this season.

Kevin Lankinen is expected to start in goal, but it could be worth waiting for official confirmation towards that if you are planning on betting the Canucks, as if they do opt to rest Lankinen, the start would likely go to third-stringer Arturs Silovs. Lankinen holds a .901 save percentage and 2.64 GAA in 50 appearances this season.

While the Sharks have been downright horrible recently and currently have a borderline AHL-level defensive corps, this still does not look like an entirely appealing spot to back the Canucks as gigantic favorites in a meaningless Game 81.

It feels like it’s far from a guarantee the Canucks will show much urgency in this matchup, and with that in mind, laying -300 for the Canucks to win or -115 for them to cover the puck line does not seem very enticing.

This does seem to be a decent spot to target a fairly high-event, loosely played matchup with some player props. Backing Celebrini to score or record two points in a game he will surely be up for could be one enticing option. Backing Brock Boeser to have a more productive night in what may be his second-to-last game as a Canuck looks to be worth a shot considering the prices.

Boeser has gone pointless in three straight games but should be well motivated to pad his stats ahead of free agency in this soft matchup. The Sharks’ penalty kill has been awful, and their defensive play at even strength hasn’t been much better. In this matchup, backing Boeser to score at +175 looks to provide value.