Tampa Bay Lightning at Buffalo Sabres NHL Picks & Predictions 2/13/2018

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

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, February 13, 2018. The opening line for this game has the Lightning at -150 and the Sabres at +136.

Tampa Bay has a record of 38-14-3 this season and on the road they have a record of 19-9-2-2. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 198 goals and given up 145 goals for a point differential of +53. For the season they have an ATS record of 38-17-0 and an over/under record of 34-21-0. Buffalo is 16-30-10 including 7-16-4-1 at home this season. They are 8th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 132 goals and surrendered 185 for a goal differential of -53. Their record against the spread is 16-40-0 while their over/under record is 25-28-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 38-17-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 34-21-0 against the over/under this season

Important Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 16-40-0 straight up this year

The Buffalo Sabres are 25-28-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

12/30/17 GO Peter Budaj Leg IR (12/29)
01/22/18 LW Ondrej Palat Lower Body IR (01/20)

Key Buffalo Sabres Injuries

02/11/18 C Jack Eichel Ankle is out indefinitely
02/08/18 D Jake McCabe Upper Body is OUT 3-4 weeks
01/27/18 D Zach Bogosian Lower Body IR (01/09)

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has accumulated 69 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 29 goals this year with 190 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 15%. He has a total of 40 assists on the season and averages 20.1 minutes played per game. Brayden Point averages 19.4 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 20 goals on 140 shots. He has 26 assists, giving him a total of 46 points on the season. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 33 wins and 10 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has 1,453 shots against him and he's given up 103 goals. He's made 1,350 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Ryan O'Reilly has scored 40 total points this year for the Sabres. He has 17 goals this season with 146 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 23 assists on the season and averages 20.3 minutes played per game. Evander Kane averages 19.4 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 9% by scoring 18 goals on 205 shots. He has 20 assists, giving him a total of 38 points on the season. Robin Lehner has 12 wins and 21 losses this year in goal for the Sabres. He has 1,229 shots against him and he's surrendered 110 goals. He's made 1,119 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 79 total points this season, which ranks them 1st in the NHL. They are 1st in the league in goals scored with 198 while they've given up 145 goals, ranking them 28th overall. They have had 191 power play opportunities and have scored 46 goals on those chances for a percentage of 24%. That is 2nd in the NHL. The Lightning have allowed 182 power play opportunities and have given up 39 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, putting them 23rd in the league when short-handed. They average 32 shots per game and as a team shoot 11.14% for the season. They allow 32 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 92%. That puts them 3rd in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Sabres are 30th in the NHL with a total of 42 points this year. They have 29 power play goals on 171 opportunities for a percentage of 17%. That ranks them 24th in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 168 power play opportunities and have given up 36 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%. That is 22nd in the NHL. As a team, the Sabres are 30th in the league with 132 goals scored while they've given up 185 goals, which is 4th overall. They average 31 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 7.67%. As a team they give up 32 shots per game and have a save percentage of 90%. That is 28th in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay has a Corsi percentage of 51.5% as they've tried 3,357 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,161 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 8th in Corsi percentage. They are 14th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 51.3% as they have 2,512 shots while they've given up 2,380 attempts on defense. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 52.8% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.2% for the year. That puts them 9th and 26th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,614 face-off wins as opposed to 1,789 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.4%. That is 30th overall in the NHL. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,111 hits and they've blocked 781 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 22nd in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Sabres start possessions in the offensive zone 52.8% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.2% for the year. That ranks them 5th and 22nd respectively in the NHL. They have 1,727 face-off wins as opposed to 1,629 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.5%. That is 5th in the league. On defense Buffalo has 1,255 hits and they've blocked 761 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 26th in blocked shots. Buffalo is ranked 24th in Corsi percentage with 48.4% as they've tried 3,034 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,239 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 24th in the NHL at 48.4%, as they have 2,325 shots while they've given up 2,478 attempts on defense.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Buffalo +136

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