Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres NHL Picks & Predictions 10/5/2017

Thursday, October 5, 2017

KeyBank Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Montreal Canadiens head to KeyBank Center to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, October 5, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Canadiens at +140 and the Sabres at +175.

Montreal had a record of 47-26-9 last year and away from home they had a record of 23-14-4. They were 1st in the Atlantic Division. They tallied 226 goals and surrendered 200 goals for a point differential of +26. For the year they had an ATS mark of 49-39-0 and an over/under record of 31-42-0. Buffalo finished with a record of 33-37-12 including 20-15-6 on home ice last year. They were 8th in the Atlantic Division. They scored 201 goals and gave up 237 for a goal differential of -36. Their record against the spread was 33-49-0 while their over/under mark was 37-38-0.

Valuable Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens were 49-39-0 straight up last year

The Montreal Canadiens were 31-42-0 against the over/under last season

Important 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

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

10/02/17 D David Schlemko Hand "?" Thursday vs. Buffalo

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

10/02/17 D Jake McCabe Shoulder "?" Thursday vs. Montreal
10/02/17 D Zach Bogosian Lower Body "?" Thursday vs. Montreal

Player Spotlight

Max Pacioretty scored 67 total points last year for the Canadiens. He had 35 goals last season with 268 shots on net giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He had a total of 32 assists on the year and averaged 19.2 minutes played per contest. Jonathan Drouin averaged 17.7 minutes of ice time per game last season. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 12% by tallying 21 goals on 177 attempts. He had 32 assists giving him a total of 53 points on the year. Carey Price had 37 wins and 20 losses last season in goal for the Canadiens. He had 1,794 shots against him and he surrendered 138 goals. He made 1,656 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Rasmus Ristolainen had 45 total points last season for the Sabres. He had 6 goals last year with 183 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 3%. He had a total of 39 assists on the year and averaged 26.6 minutes played per contest. Jack Eichel averaged 20 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 24 goals on 241 attempts. He had 33 assists giving him a total of 57 points on the year. 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%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Canadiens had 103 total points last year, which was 8th in the NHL. They scored 226 goals while giving up 200 scores, which had them ranked 16th and 28th respectively. They had 230 power play chances and scored 45 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 20%. That was 13th in the league. The Canadiens gave up 249 power play opportunities and surrendered 47 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 14th when short-handed. They averaged 30 shots per contest and as a team shot 9.19% for the year. They allowed 30 shot attempts to their opposition per game and had a team save percentage of 92%, which was 6th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres were 26th in the league with a total of 78 points last season. They had 57 power play goals on 233 chances for a percentage of 24%. That was 1st in the NHL. They gave up 237 power play opportunities and surrendered 53 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking 25th overall. As a team, the Sabres were 25th with a total of 201 goals scored while they gave up 237 goals last season, ranking 10th in goals against. They averaged 30 shots per game and had a team shooting percentage of 8.07%. As a unit they gave up 34 shots per contest and had a save percentage of 92%, putting them 4th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Montreal was 6th in the NHL in Corsi percentage last year with 51.3%, as they attempted 4,721 shots on net at full strength while they gave up 4,484 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage was 51.3% as they had 3,448 attempts while they gave up 3,271 shots on the defensive end. That ranked them 10th in the league. The Canadiens started possessions in the offensive zone 48.7% of the time, which was 26th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage was at 51.3% for the season. That was 9th overall in the NHL. They had 2,516 face-off wins compared to 2,483 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 50.3%. That ranked them 14th in the league. On defense Montreal had 1,864 hits and they blocked 1,213 shots from the opposition, putting them 11th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Sabres started possessions in the offensive zone 48.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 51.3% for the year. That ranked them 21st and 4th respectively in the NHL. They had 2,445 face-off wins as opposed to 2,484 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 49.6%. That was 12th in the league. On defense Buffalo had 1,872 hits and they blocked 1,121 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 18th in blocked shots. Buffalo was ranked 28th in Corsi percentage with 47.2% as they tried 4,416 shots on goal while at full strength while they surrendered 4,939 shots on net when they had a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage was 27th in the NHL at 47%, as they had 3,384 shots while they gave up 3,818 attempts on defense.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Montreal +140

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