Florida Panthers at Buffalo Sabres NHL Picks & Predictions 2/1/2018

Thursday, February 1, 2018

KeyBank Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Florida Panthers head to KeyBank Center to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, February 1, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Panthers at -110 and the Sabres at +100.

Florida has a record of 20-22-6 this year and away from home they have a record of 9-14-3-1. They are 4th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 136 goals and surrendered 159 goals for a point differential of -23. For the year they have an ATS mark of 20-28-0 and an over/under record of 26-22-0. Buffalo has a record of 14-27-9 including 6-13-3-1 on home ice this year. They are 8th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 115 goals and have given up 166 for a goal differential of -51. Their record against the spread is 14-36-0 while their over/under mark is 20-27-0.

Valuable Florida Panthers Betting Trends

The Florida Panthers are 20-28-0 straight up this year

The Florida Panthers are 26-22-0 against the over/under this season

Important Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 14-36-0 straight up this year

The Buffalo Sabres are 20-27-0 against the over/under this season

Key Florida Panthers Injuries

12/13/17 GO Roberto Luongo Lower Body IR (12/04)
01/30/18 LW Jamie McGinn Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Buffalo
01/25/18 GO James Reimer Groin IR (01/23)

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

01/27/18 D Zach Bogosian Lower Body IR (01/09)
01/23/18 D Nathan Beaulieu Concussion IR (01/22)
01/10/18 C Jacob Josefson Lower Body IR (01/09)

Player Spotlight

Jonathan Huberdeau has scored 48 total points this year for the Panthers. He has 17 goals this season with 119 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 31 assists on the year and averages 19.9 minutes played per contest. Vincent Trocheck averages 21.6 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by tallying 18 goals on 171 attempts. He has 28 assists, giving him a total of 46 points on the year. Harri Sateri has 1 wins and 3 losses this season in goal for the Panthers. He has 158 shots against him and he's surrendered 16 goals. He's made 142 stops for a save percentage of 90%.

Player Spotlight

Evander Kane has 36 total points this season for the Sabres. He has 16 goals this year with 190 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 8%. He has a total of 20 assists on the year and averages 19.4 minutes played per contest. Jack Eichel averages 20.3 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by scoring 20 goals on 177 attempts. He has 29 assists, giving him a total of 49 points on the year. Robin Lehner has 11 wins and 19 losses this season in net for the Sabres. He has 1,107 shots against him and he's given up 97 goals. He's made 1,010 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Panthers have 46 total points this year, which is 26th in the NHL. They've scored 136 goals while giving up 159 scores, which has them ranked 23rd and 6th respectively. They have had 144 power play chances and scored 23 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 16%. That is 27th in the league. The Panthers have given up 151 power play opportunities and surrendered 31 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking them 20th when short-handed. They average 35 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.19% for the year. They allow 35 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 19th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres are 30th in the league with a total of 37 points this season. They have 25 power play goals on 154 chances for a percentage of 16%. That is 26th in the NHL. They've given up 145 power play opportunities and surrendered 31 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking 23rd overall. As a team, the Sabres are 31st with a total of 115 goals scored while they've given up 166 goals this season, ranking 4th in goals against. They average 31 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 7.44%. As a unit they give up 33 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 26th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Florida has a Corsi percentage of 49.7% as they've tried 2,892 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,924 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 15th in Corsi percentage. They are 15th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50% as they have 2,254 shots while they've given up 2,257 attempts on defense. The Panthers start possessions in the offensive zone 47.6% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 52.4% for the year. That puts them 28th and 5th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,580 face-off wins as opposed to 1,488 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.5%. That is 8th overall in the NHL. On defense Florida has 963 hits and they've blocked 667 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 27th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Sabres are 6th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.5% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.5% for the season, which is 21st in the NHL. They have 1,535 face-off wins compared to 1,466 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.1%. That is 11th in the league. On defense Buffalo has 1,137 hits and they have blocked 693 shots from the opposition, which is 24th in the league. Buffalo is 23rd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.3% as they've attempted 2,716 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,911 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 48.4% ranks 22nd as they have 2,078 attempts while they have given up 2,218 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Florida -110

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