Tampa Bay Lightning at Buffalo Sabres NHL Picks & Predictions 11/28/2017

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

KeyBank Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning travel to KeyBank Center to play the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, November 28, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Lightning at -183 and the Sabres at +165.

Tampa Bay has a record of 16-5-2 this season and on the road they have a record of 7-3-1. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 86 goals and given up 62 goals for a point differential of +24. For the season they have an ATS record of 16-7-0 and an over/under record of 14-9-0. Buffalo is 6-14-4 including 3-7-1 at home this season. They are 8th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 55 goals and surrendered 83 for a goal differential of -28. Their record against the spread is 6-18-0 while their over/under record is 10-12-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 16-7-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 14-9-0 against the over/under this season

Important Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 6-18-0 straight up this year

The Buffalo Sabres are 10-12-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

No key injuries to report

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

11/27/17 C Jacob Josefson Lower Body injured last game, is "?" Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay
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)
10/13/17 D Zach Bogosian Lower Body IR (10/14)

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has accumulated 34 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 17 goals this year with 84 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 20%. He has a total of 17 assists on the season and averages 20.8 minutes played per game. Brayden Point averages 19.3 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 16% by scoring 9 goals on 57 shots. He has 12 assists, giving him a total of 21 points on the season. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 15 wins and 3 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has 626 shots against him and he's given up 44 goals. He's made 582 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Jason Pominville has scored 14 total points this year for the Sabres. He has 6 goals this season with 47 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 8 assists on the season and averages 15.5 minutes played per game. Evander Kane averages 20 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by scoring 12 goals on 110 shots. He has 11 assists, giving him a total of 23 points on the season. Robin Lehner has 5 wins and 10 losses this year in goal for the Sabres. He has 486 shots against him and he's surrendered 46 goals. He's made 440 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 34 total points this season, which ranks them 2nd in the NHL. They are 2nd in the league in goals scored with 86 while they've given up 62 goals, ranking them 26th overall. They have had 90 power play opportunities and have scored 24 goals on those chances for a percentage of 27%. That is 1st in the NHL. The Lightning have allowed 80 power play opportunities and have given up 15 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, putting them 13th in the league when short-handed. They average 33 shots per game and as a team shoot 11.48% for the season. They allow 32 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 92%. That puts them 7th in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres are 30th in the NHL with a total of 16 points this year. They have 10 power play goals on 75 opportunities for a percentage of 13%. That ranks them 30th in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 71 power play opportunities and have given up 13 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%. That is 11th in the NHL. As a team, the Sabres are 31st in the league with 55 goals scored while they've given up 83 goals, which is 3rd overall. They average 31 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 7.44%. As a team they give up 31 shots per game and have a save percentage of 89%. That is 30th in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay has a Corsi percentage of 51.6% as they've tried 1,417 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,327 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 8th in Corsi percentage. They are 9th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 51.7% as they have 1,080 shots while they've given up 1,010 attempts on defense. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 55.3% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 44.7% for the year. That puts them 4th and 29th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 679 face-off wins as opposed to 770 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 46.9%. That is 29th overall in the NHL. On defense Tampa Bay has 450 hits and they've blocked 317 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 24th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Sabres start possessions in the offensive zone 52.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.6% for the year. That ranks them 11th and 19th respectively in the NHL. They have 747 face-off wins as opposed to 712 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.2%. That is 11th in the league. On defense Buffalo has 533 hits and they've blocked 322 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 23rd in blocked shots. Buffalo is ranked 19th in Corsi percentage with 49% as they've tried 1,300 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,355 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 19th in the NHL at 48.9%, as they have 990 shots while they've given up 1,033 attempts on defense.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Buffalo +165

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