Thursday, October 13, 2016

First Niagara Center

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

The Montreal Canadiens travel to First Niagara Center to play the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, October 13, 2016. The opening line for this game has the Canadiens at +100 and the Sabres at -110. The over/under has been set at 5.5.

Montreal comes into this matchup after having a regular season record of 38-38-6 last season and on the road they had a record of 16-22-3. They finished 6th in the Atlantic Division. They scored 221 goals and gave up 236 goals for a point differential of -15. The Canadiens had 6 overtime losses including 3 of them in a shootout. In their last 10 games they had an overall record of 5-5-0. For the season they had an ATS record of 35-44 and an over/under record of 40-30-12. Buffalo had a regular season record of 35-36-11 including 16-19-6 at home last season. They were 7th in the Atlantic Division. They scored 201 goals and surrendered 222 for a goal differential of -21. The Sabres had 11 losses in OT and 7 of them occurred in a shootout. They had a record of 6-3-1 in their last 10 contests. Their record against the spread was 33-47 while their over/under record sat at 27-33-22.

Tomas Plekanec accumulated 54 total points last season for the Canadiens. He had 14 goals last year with 189 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 7%. He had a total of 40 assists on the season and averaged 19 minutes played per game. Max Pacioretty averaged 19 minutes of ice time per game last year. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 30 goals on 303 shots. He had 34 assists giving him a total of 64 points on the season. Carey Price had 10 wins and 2 losses last season in net for the Canadiens. He had 365 shots against him and gave up 24 goals. He made 341 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Ryan O'Reilly accumulated 60 total points last season for the Sabres. He had 21 goals last year with 157 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He had a total of 39 assists on the season and averaged 22 minutes played per game. Jack Eichel averaged 19 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 24 goals on 238 shots. He had 32 assists giving him a total of 56 points on the season. Robin Lehner had 5 wins and 9 losses this season in net for the Sabres. He had 634 shots against him and gave up 48 goals. He made 586 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

The Canadiens had 82 total points last season. They scored 221 goals while giving up 236 goals. They had 259 power play opportunities and scored 42 goals on those chances for a percentage of 16%. The Canadiens allowed 254 power play opportunities and gave up 46 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%. They averaged 31 shots per game and as a team they shot 8.83% for the season. They allowed 29 shots to their opposition per contest and had a team save percentage of 91%.

The Sabres had a total of 81 points on the season. They had 48 power play goals on 254 opportunities for a percentage of 19%. They allowed 218 power play opportunities and gave up 38 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%. As a team, the Canadiens had a total of 201 goals scored while they gave up 222 goals during the campaign. They averaged 29 shots per contest and had a team shooting percentage of 8.31%. As a team they gave up 30 shots per game and had a save percentage of 92%.

Montreal had a Corsi percentage of 51.4% as they attempted 4,708 shots on net at full strength while they gave up 4,447 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage was at 51% as they had 3,431 attempts while they gave up 3,303 shots on the defensive end. The Canadiens started possessions in the offensive zone 49.6% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 50.4% for the season. They had 2,621 face off wins compared to 2,586 losses, meaning their faceoff win percentage was 50.3%. On defense Montreal had 1,933 hits and they blocked 1,144 shots from the opposition.

Buffalo attempted 4,317 shots at full strength and they gave up 4,600 attempts, meaning their Corsi percentage was at 48.4% for the season. In terms of Fenwick percentage, they were at 48.4% as they had 3,282 shots while they gave up 3,505 attempts on defense. The Sabres had an offensive zone percentage of 49.6% and their defensive zone percentage was 50.4% this season. They had a faceoff win percentage of 49.4% as they compiled 2,427 face off wins this season and they suffered 2,488 face off losses. On defense Buffalo blocked 1,095 shot attempts and they had 1,916 hits as a unit.

Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens were 35-44 straight up last season

The Montreal Canadiens were 40-30-12 against the over/under

Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres were 33-47 straight up last season

The Buffalo Sabres were 27-33-22 against the over/under

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

10/12/16 GO Carey Price Flu is downgraded to doubtful Thursday vs. Buffalo
10/11/16 D Jeff Petry Knee is downgraded to expected to miss Thursday vs. Buffalo
10/10/16 C Brian Flynn Neck "?" Thursday vs. Buffalo
10/10/16 LW Max Pacioretty Illness probable Thursday vs. Buffalo

Buffalo Sabres Injuries

10/12/16 C Jack Eichel Ankle out indefinitely
10/12/16 RW Kyle Okposo Knee is downgraded to expected to miss Thursday vs. Montreal
10/12/16 D Zach Bogosian Groin is upgraded to probable Thursday vs. Montreal
10/11/16 C Ryan O'Reilly Back is downgraded to out indefinitely
10/10/16 LW Marcus Foligno Illness probable Thursday vs. Montreal

Josh's Pick: Take Buffalo

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