Buffalo Sabres at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 10/25/2017

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Buffalo Sabres head to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, October 25, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Sabres at +184 and the Blue Jackets at -205.

Buffalo has a record of 2-5-2 this year and away from home they have a record of 2-3-1. They are 7th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 25 goals and surrendered 36 goals for a point differential of -11. For the year they have an ATS mark of 2-7-0 and an over/under record of 6-2-0. Columbus has a record of 5-3-0 including 2-2-0 on home ice this year. They are 4th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 25 goals and have given up 21 for a goal differential of +4. Their record against the spread is 5-3-0 while their over/under mark is 4-4-0.

Valuable Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 2-7-0 straight up this year

The Buffalo Sabres are 6-2-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 5-3-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 4-4-0 against the over/under this season

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

10/21/17 D Josh Gorges Lower Body IR (10/21)
10/21/17 D Nathan Beaulieu Upper Body is "?" Tuesday vs. Detroit
10/21/17 C Zemgus Girgensons Lower Body is "?" Tuesday vs. Detroit
10/19/17 C Jacob Josefson Undisclosed is out indefinitely
10/13/17 D Zach Bogosian Lower Body IR (10/15)
10/09/17 LW Evan Rodrigues Hand IR (10/03)
10/08/17 D Justin Falk Lower Body IR (10/03)

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

10/23/17 LW Lukas Sedlak Ankle IR (10/23)
10/15/17 D Gabriel Carlsson Upper Body IR (10/15)

Player Spotlight

Evander Kane has scored 11 total points this year for the Sabres. He has 6 goals this season with 47 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 5 assists on the year and averages 20.4 minutes played per contest. Jason Pominville averages 16.6 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 28% by tallying 5 goals on 18 attempts. He has 6 assists, giving him a total of 11 points on the year. Robin Lehner has 1 win and 3 losses this season in goal for the Sabres. He has 151 shots against him and he's surrendered 16 goals. He's made 135 stops for a save percentage of 89%.

Player Spotlight

Sonny Milano has 5 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 5 goals this year with 14 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 36%. He averages 12.8 minutes played per contest. Artemi Panarin averages 20.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 4% by scoring 1 goal on 23 attempts. He has 8 assists, giving him a total of 9 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 4 wins and 2 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 178 shots against him and he's given up 13 goals. He's made 165 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres have 6 total points this year, which is 25th in the NHL. They've scored 25 goals while giving up 36 scores, which has them ranked 12th and 2nd respectively. They have had 32 power play chances and scored 5 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 16%. That is 22nd in the league. The Sabres have given up 33 power play opportunities and surrendered 6 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, ranking them 15th when short-handed. They average 31 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.99% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 88%, which is 28th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 10th in the league with a total of 10 points this season. They have 2 power play goals on 22 chances for a percentage of 9%. That is 29th in the NHL. They've given up 18 power play opportunities and surrendered 3 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking 11th overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 13th with a total of 25 goals scored while they've given up 21 goals this season, ranking 23rd in goals against. They average 37 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.53%. As a unit they give up 29 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 14th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Buffalo has a Corsi percentage of 48.9% as they've tried 503 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 525 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 18th in Corsi percentage. They are 17th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 49.2% as they have 384 shots while they've given up 397 attempts on defense. The Sabres start possessions in the offensive zone 52% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 48% for the year. That puts them 11th and 17th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 281 face-off wins as opposed to 289 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.3%. That is 19th overall in the NHL. On defense Buffalo has 200 hits and they've blocked 128 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 6th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 53.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 46.6% for the year. That ranks them 9th and 24th respectively in the NHL. They have 214 face-off wins as opposed to 281 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 43.2%. That is 31st in the league. On defense Columbus has 155 hits and they've blocked 113 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 14th in blocked shots. Columbus is ranked 3rd in Corsi percentage with 54.3% as they've tried 501 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 422 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 2nd in the NHL at 55.2%, as they have 381 shots while they've given up 309 attempts on defense.

Who will win tonight's Sabres/Blue Jackets NHL game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take Buffalo +184

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