Buffalo Sabres at Nashville Predators NHL Picks & Predictions 3/31/2018

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Bridgestone Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Buffalo Sabres head to Bridgestone Arena to take on the Nashville Predators on Saturday, March 31, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Sabres at +277 and the Predators at -315.

Buffalo has a record of 24-41-12 this year and away from home they have a record of 13-17-7-0. They are 8th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 180 goals and surrendered 256 goals for a point differential of -76. For the year they have an ATS mark of 24-53-0 and an over/under record of 34-38-0. Nashville has a record of 50-16-11 including 27-8-4-3 on home ice this year. They are 1st in the Central Division. They've scored 250 goals and have given up 196 for a goal differential of +54. Their record against the spread is 50-27-0 while their over/under mark is 38-38-0.

Valuable Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 24-53-0 straight up this year

The Buffalo Sabres are 34-38-0 against the over/under this season

Important Nashville Predators Betting Trends

The Nashville Predators are 50-27-0 straight up this year

The Nashville Predators are 38-38-0 against the over/under this season

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

03/29/18 GO Linus Ullmark Undisclosed is "?" Saturday vs Nashville
03/17/18 C Jacob Josefson Lower Body is out indefinitely
03/08/18 C Kyle Criscuolo Shoulder is out for season
02/08/18 D Jake McCabe Shoulder IR (02/06)
01/27/18 D Zach Bogosian Hip IR (01/09)

Key Nashville Predators Injuries

03/29/18 LW Austin Watson Upper Body is "?" Saturday vs Buffalo
03/29/18 D Yannick Weber Undisclosed is "?" Saturday vs Buffalo
03/16/18 C Calle Jarnkrok Upper Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Ryan O'Reilly has scored 54 total points this year for the Sabres. He has 21 goals this season with 207 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 33 assists on the year and averages 20.8 minutes played per contest. Sam Reinhart averages 17 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by tallying 20 goals on 172 attempts. He has 24 assists, giving him a total of 44 points on the year. Robin Lehner has 14 wins and 26 losses this season in goal for the Sabres. He has 1,560 shots against him and he's surrendered 143 goals. He's made 1,417 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Kevin Fiala has 47 total points this season for the Predators. He has 23 goals this year with 177 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 24 assists on the year and averages 15.2 minutes played per contest. P.K. Subban averages 24.2 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 8% by scoring 15 goals on 197 attempts. He has 40 assists, giving him a total of 55 points on the year. Pekka Rinne has 41 wins and 11 losses this season in net for the Predators. He has 1,755 shots against him and he's given up 125 goals. He's made 1,630 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres have 60 total points this year, which is 31st in the NHL. They've scored 180 goals while giving up 256 scores, which has them ranked 31st and 3rd respectively. They have had 232 power play chances and scored 40 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 17%. That is 24th in the league. The Sabres have given up 221 power play opportunities and surrendered 48 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking them 22nd when short-handed. They average 31 shots per contest and as a team shoot 7.56% for the year. They allow 33 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 28th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Predators are 1st in the league with a total of 111 points this season. They have 52 power play goals on 261 chances for a percentage of 20%. That is 18th in the NHL. They've given up 278 power play opportunities and surrendered 48 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking 6th overall. As a team, the Predators are 7th with a total of 250 goals scored while they've given up 196 goals this season, ranking 30th in goals against. They average 32 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.09%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 92%, putting them 1st overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Buffalo has a Corsi percentage of 48.3% as they've tried 4,197 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,490 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 22nd in Corsi percentage. They are 23rd in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 48.4% as they have 3,243 shots while they've given up 3,458 attempts on defense. The Sabres start possessions in the offensive zone 52% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 48% for the year. That puts them 9th and 20th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,397 face-off wins as opposed to 2,225 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.9%. That is 5th overall in the NHL. On defense Buffalo has 1,675 hits and they've blocked 1,032 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 29th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Predators are 25th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 49% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51% for the season, which is 9th in the NHL. They have 2,578 face-off wins compared to 2,282 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 53%. That is 4th in the league. On defense Nashville has 1,565 hits and they have blocked 1,137 shots from the opposition, which is 16th in the league. Nashville is 10th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.6% as they've attempted 4,599 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,496 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 50.9% ranks 12th as they have 3,476 attempts while they have given up 3,359 shots on the defensive end.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Buffalo +277

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