Buffalo Sabres at Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Picks & Predictions 4/6/2018

Friday, April 6, 2018

Amalie Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Buffalo Sabres head to Amalie Arena to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, April 6, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Sabres at +309 and the Lightning at -355.

Buffalo has a record of 25-43-12 this year and away from home they have a record of 14-18-7-0. They are 8th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 191 goals and surrendered 269 goals for a point differential of -78. For the year they have an ATS mark of 25-55-0 and an over/under record of 37-38-0. Tampa Bay has a record of 53-23-4 including 28-10-2-0 on home ice this year. They are 2nd in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 287 goals and have given up 228 for a goal differential of +59. Their record against the spread is 53-27-0 while their over/under mark is 48-30-0.

Valuable Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 25-55-0 straight up this year

The Buffalo Sabres are 37-38-0 against the over/under this season

Important Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 53-27-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 48-30-0 against the over/under this season

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

04/05/18 C Zemgus Girgensons Upper Body is out for season
04/05/18 GO Linus Ullmark Concussion is doubtful Friday vs Tampa Bay
04/04/18 GO Robin Lehner Lower Body is "?" Friday vs Tampa Bay
04/01/18 D Victor Antipin Concussion is out indefinitely
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 Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

04/05/18 C Steven Stamkos Lower Body is "?" Friday vs Buffalo
03/29/18 LW Adam Erne Lower Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Ryan O'Reilly has scored 58 total points this year for the Sabres. He has 22 goals this season with 219 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 36 assists on the year and averages 20.8 minutes played per contest. Sam Reinhart averages 17.1 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by tallying 24 goals on 180 attempts. He has 24 assists, giving him a total of 48 points on the year. Chad Johnson has 10 wins and 14 losses this season in goal for the Sabres. He has 886 shots against him and he's surrendered 93 goals. He's made 793 stops for a save percentage of 90%.

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has 98 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 38 goals this year with 275 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 60 assists on the year and averages 19.8 minutes played per contest. Brayden Point averages 19.7 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 31 goals on 216 attempts. He has 34 assists, giving him a total of 65 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 43 wins and 17 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has 2,043 shots against him and he's given up 162 goals. He's made 1,881 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres have 62 total points this year, which is 31st in the NHL. They've scored 189 goals while giving up 265 scores, which has them ranked 31st and 3rd respectively. They have had 246 power play chances and scored 46 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 19%. That is 21st in the league. The Sabres have given up 228 power play opportunities and surrendered 51 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking them 23rd when short-handed. They average 31 shots per contest and as a team shoot 7.71% 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 Lightning are 3rd in the league with a total of 110 points this season. They have 66 power play goals on 272 chances for a percentage of 24%. That is 3rd in the NHL. They've given up 260 power play opportunities and surrendered 62 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking 27th overall. As a team, the Lightning are 1st with a total of 287 goals scored while they've given up 228 goals this season, ranking 19th in goals against. They average 33 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.99%. As a unit they give up 33 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 10th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Buffalo is 24th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.4%, as they've attempted 4,317 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,602 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 48.5% as they have 3,340 attempts while they have given up 3,548 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 19th in the league. The Sabres start possessions in the offensive zone 52.3% of the time, which is 10th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.7% for the season. That is 21st overall in the NHL. They have 2,448 face-off wins compared to 2,298 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.6%. That ranks them 4th in the league. On defense Buffalo has 1,710 hits and they have blocked 1,054 shots from the opposition, putting them 29th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Lightning are 8th 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 27th in the NHL. They have 2,381 face-off wins compared to 2,551 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.3%. That is 29th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,685 hits and they have blocked 1,098 shots from the opposition, which is 26th in the league. Tampa Bay is 14th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.4% as they've attempted 4,852 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,586 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 51.4% ranks 15th as they have 3,682 attempts while they have given up 3,488 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Buffalo +309

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