Carolina Hurricanes at Buffalo Sabres NHL Picks & Predictions 11/18/2017

Saturday, November 18, 2017

KeyBank Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Carolina Hurricanes head to KeyBank Center to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, November 18, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Hurricanes at -135 and the Sabres at +122.

Carolina has a record of 7-6-4 this year and away from home they have a record of 4-4-1. They are 8th in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 50 goals and surrendered 50 goals for a point differential of 0. For the year they have an ATS mark of 7-10-0 and an over/under record of 10-7-0. Buffalo has a record of 5-9-4 including 2-4-1 on home ice this year. They are 8th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 44 goals and have given up 65 for a goal differential of -21. Their record against the spread is 5-13-0 while their over/under mark is 9-7-0.

Valuable Carolina Hurricanes Betting Trends

The Carolina Hurricanes are 7-10-0 straight up this year

The Carolina Hurricanes are 10-7-0 against the over/under this season

Important Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 5-13-0 straight up this year

The Buffalo Sabres are 9-7-0 against the over/under this season

Key Carolina Hurricanes Injuries

11/17/17 C Marcus Kruger Illness is "?" Saturday vs. Buffalo
11/13/17 RW Lee Stempniak Hip is out indefinitely

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

11/14/17 D Matt Tennyson Foot is "?" Friday vs Detroit
11/14/17 GO Robin Lehner Undisclosed injured last game, is "?" Friday vs Detroit
11/09/17 D Rasmus Ristolainen Upper Body IR (11/07)
11/07/17 LW Evan Rodrigues Hand IR (10/03)
10/19/17 C Jacob Josefson Ankle IR (10/15)
10/13/17 D Zach Bogosian Lower Body IR (10/14)

Player Spotlight

Jeff Skinner has scored 12 total points this year for the Hurricanes. He has 9 goals this season with 64 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 3 assists on the year and averages 17.5 minutes played per contest. Jordan Staal averages 19.4 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by tallying 6 goals on 43 attempts. He has 9 assists, giving him a total of 15 points on the year. Scott Darling has 5 wins and 4 losses this season in goal for the Hurricanes. He has 359 shots against him and he's surrendered 34 goals. He's made 325 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Evander Kane has 18 total points this season for the Sabres. He has 10 goals this year with 87 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 8 assists on the year and averages 19.8 minutes played per contest. Jason Pominville averages 15.8 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 16% by scoring 6 goals on 37 attempts. He has 7 assists, giving him a total of 13 points on the year. Robin Lehner has 4 wins and 6 losses this season in net for the Sabres. He has 349 shots against him and he's given up 34 goals. He's made 315 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Hurricanes have 18 total points this year, which is 26th in the NHL. They've scored 50 goals while giving up 50 scores, which has them ranked 26th and 26th respectively. They have had 56 power play chances and scored 8 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 14%. That is 30th in the league. The Hurricanes have given up 38 power play opportunities and surrendered 8 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking them 20th when short-handed. They average 36 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.22% for the year. They allow 29 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 15th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres are 30th in the league with a total of 14 points this season. They have 10 power play goals on 60 chances for a percentage of 17%. That is 23rd in the NHL. They've given up 53 power play opportunities and surrendered 10 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 15th overall. As a team, the Sabres are 30th with a total of 44 goals scored while they've given up 65 goals this season, ranking 4th in goals against. They average 31 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 7.84%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 89%, putting them 29th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Carolina has a Corsi percentage of 55.3% as they've tried 1,161 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 939 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 1st in Corsi percentage. They are 2nd in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 54% as they have 832 shots while they've given up 709 attempts on defense. The Hurricanes start possessions in the offensive zone 59.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 40.3% for the year. That puts them 1st and 31st in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 536 face-off wins as opposed to 490 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 52.2%. That is 6th overall in the NHL. On defense Carolina has 263 hits and they've blocked 230 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 30th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Sabres are 9th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 53.1% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 46.9% for the season, which is 19th in the NHL. They have 553 face-off wins compared to 556 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.9%. That is 18th in the league. On defense Buffalo has 409 hits and they have blocked 251 shots from the opposition, which is 26th in the league. Buffalo is 25th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.2% as they've attempted 960 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,032 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 49% ranks 18th as they have 751 attempts while they have given up 781 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Carolina -135

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