Buffalo Sabres at Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Picks & Predictions 9/27/2017

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

PPG Paints Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Buffalo Sabres travel to PPG Paints Arena to play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, September 27, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Sabres at +170 and the Penguins at -205.

Buffalo had a record of 33-37-12 last season and on the road they had a record of 13-22-6. They finished 8th in the Atlantic Division. They scored 201 goals and gave up 237 goals for a point differential of -36. For the season they had an ATS record of 33-49-0 and an over/under record of 37-38-0. Pittsburgh finished with a record of 50-21-11 including 31-6-4 at home last season. They were 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They scored 282 goals and surrendered 234 for a goal differential of +48. Their record against the spread was 66-41-0 while their over/under record was 58-42-0.

Valuable Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres were 33-49-0 straight up last year

The Buffalo Sabres were 37-38-0 against the over/under last season

Important Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 66-41-0 straight up last year

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 58-42-0 against the over/under last season

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

9/26/2017 Evan Rodrigues RW Hand
9/25/2017 Jake McCabe D Upper Body
9/24/2017 Alexander Nylander LW Lower Body
9/18/2017 Marco Scandella D Hip
9/15/2017 Sean Malone C Hip

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

9/25/2017 Tom Sestito LW Undisclosed
9/18/2017 Patric Hornqvist RW Hand

Player Spotlight

Jack Eichel accumulated 57 total points last season for the Sabres. He had 24 goals last year with 241 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He had a total of 33 assists on the season and averaged 20 minutes played per game. Rasmus Ristolainen averaged 26.6 minutes of ice time per game last year. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 3% by scoring 6 goals on 183 shots. He had 39 assists giving him a total of 45 points on the season. Robin Lehner had 23 wins and 26 losses last season in net for the Sabres. He had 1,910 shots against him and he gave up 152 goals. He made 1,758 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Evgeni Malkin scored 72 total points last year for the Penguins. He had 33 goals last season with 191 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He had a total of 39 assists on the season and averaged 18.6 minutes played per game. Sidney Crosby averaged 19.9 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 17% by scoring 43 goals on 253 shots. He had 45 assists giving him a total of 88 points on the season. Matthew Murray had 32 wins and 10 losses last year in goal for the Penguins. He had 1,450 shots against him and he surrendered 111 goals. He made 1,339 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres had 78 total points last season. They scored 201 goals while giving up 237 goals. They had 233 power play opportunities and scored 57 goals on those chances for a percentage of 24%. The Sabres allowed 237 power play opportunities and gave up 53 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%. They averaged 30 shots per game and as a team shot 8.07% for the season. They allowed 34 shots to their opposition per contest and had a team save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins had a total of 111 points last year. They had 60 power play goals on 260 opportunities for a percentage of 23%. They allowed 257 power play opportunities and gave up 52 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%. As a team, the Sabres had a total of 282 goals scored while they gave up 234 goals last year. They averaged 33 shots per contest and had a team shooting percentage of 10.27%. As a team they gave up 33 shots per game and had a save percentage of 91%.

Advanced Statistics

Buffalo had a Corsi percentage of 47.2% as they attempted 4,416 shots on net at full strength while they gave up 4,939 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage was 47% as they had 3,384 attempts while they gave up 3,818 shots on the defensive end. The Sabres started possessions in the offensive zone 48.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 51.3% for the season. They had 2,445 face off wins compared to 2,484 losses, meaning their faceoff win percentage was 49.6%. On defense Buffalo had 1,872 hits and they blocked 1,121 shots from the opposition.

Advanced Statistics

Pittsburgh attempted 4,814 shots at full strength last year and they gave up 4,855 attempts, meaning their Corsi percentage was 49.8% for the season. In terms of Fenwick percentage, they were at 50.7% as they had 3,648 shots while they surrendered 3,548 attempts on defense. The Penguins had an offensive zone percentage of 53.4% and their defensive zone percentage was 46.6% last season. They had a faceoff win percentage of 47.6% as they compiled 2,452 face off wins last season and they suffered 2,702 face off losses. On defense Pittsburgh blocked 1,307 shot attempts and they had 2,060 hits as a unit.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Pittsburgh -205

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