Columbus Blue Jackets at Buffalo Sabres NHL Picks & Predictions 11/20/2017

Monday, November 20, 2017

KeyBank Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head to KeyBank Center to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Monday, November 20, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Blue Jackets at -150 and the Sabres at +136.

Columbus has a record of 12-7-1 this year and away from home they have a record of 6-3-1. They are 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 59 goals and surrendered 51 goals for a point differential of +8. For the year they have an ATS mark of 12-8-0 and an over/under record of 9-11-0. Buffalo has a record of 5-11-4 including 2-5-1 on home ice this year. They are 8th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 46 goals and have given up 71 for a goal differential of -25. Their record against the spread is 5-15-0 while their over/under mark is 9-9-0.

Valuable Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 12-8-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 9-11-0 against the over/under this season

Important Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 5-15-0 straight up this year

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

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

11/19/17 C Alexander Wennberg Undisclosed missed last game, is "?" Monday vs. Buffalo
11/06/17 LW Matt Calvert Upper Body IR (11/04)
10/23/17 LW Lukas Sedlak Ankle IR (10/22)

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

11/17/17 D Taylor Fedun Lower Body IR (11/15)
11/14/17 D Matt Tennyson Foot IR (11/05)
11/09/17 D Rasmus Ristolainen Upper Body IR (11/03)
10/19/17 C Jacob Josefson Ankle IR (10/15)
10/13/17 D Zach Bogosian Lower Body IR (10/14)

Player Spotlight

Zach Werenski has scored 12 total points this year for the Blue Jackets. He has 6 goals this season with 52 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 6 assists on the year and averages 22.3 minutes played per contest. Seth Jones averages 24.2 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 5% by tallying 3 goals on 58 attempts. He has 9 assists, giving him a total of 12 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 11 wins and 4 losses this season in goal for the Blue Jackets. He has 494 shots against him and he's surrendered 33 goals. He's made 461 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Evander Kane has 19 total points this season for the Sabres. He has 11 goals this year with 93 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 8 assists on the year and averages 20 minutes played per contest. Jason Pominville averages 15.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 6 goals on 39 attempts. He has 7 assists, giving him a total of 13 points on the year. Robin Lehner has 4 wins and 7 losses this season in net for the Sabres. He has 382 shots against him and he's given up 37 goals. He's made 345 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets have 25 total points this year, which is 6th in the NHL. They've scored 59 goals while giving up 51 scores, which has them ranked 16th and 27th respectively. They have had 57 power play chances and scored 6 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 11%. That is 31st in the league. The Blue Jackets have given up 51 power play opportunities and surrendered 9 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, ranking them 12th when short-handed. They average 35 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.46% for the year. They allow 31 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 92%, which is 4th 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 64 chances for a percentage of 16%. That is 26th in the NHL. They've given up 62 power play opportunities and surrendered 10 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 84%, ranking 7th overall. As a team, the Sabres are 30th with a total of 46 goals scored while they've given up 71 goals this season, ranking 4th in goals against. They average 30 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 7.59%. 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

Columbus has a Corsi percentage of 51.7% as they've tried 1,210 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,129 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 6th in Corsi percentage. They are 5th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 52.8% as they have 934 shots while they've given up 834 attempts on defense. The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 52.2% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.8% for the year. That puts them 13th and 18th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 569 face-off wins as opposed to 636 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.2%. That is 29th overall in the NHL. On defense Columbus has 411 hits and they've blocked 295 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 10th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Sabres start possessions in the offensive zone 52.3% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.7% for the year. That ranks them 12th and 17th respectively in the NHL. They have 608 face-off wins as opposed to 608 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50%. That is 16th in the league. On defense Buffalo has 454 hits and they've blocked 272 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 24th in blocked shots. Buffalo is ranked 26th in Corsi percentage with 47.7% as they've tried 1,049 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,150 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 25th in the NHL at 48.1%, as they have 815 shots while they've given up 878 attempts on defense.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus -150

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