Buffalo Sabres vs Chicago Blackhawks NHL Picks & Predictions 11/17/2019

Game: Buffalo Sabres vs Chicago Blackhawks

Date: Sunday, November 17, 2019

Location: United Center in Chicago, IL

TV: MSGB/NSCH

Odds/Point Spread: Sabres (+104) Blackhawks (-115)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Robin Lehner and the Chicago Blackhawks (7-7-4, 6th in the Central Division) host the Buffalo Sabres (9-6-3, 5th in the Atlantic Division) at United Center on Sunday, November 17, 2019. The Blackhawks open this game at -115 while the Sabres are priced at +104. The total opens at 6.5. The Sabres are covering 47.1% of the time, having gone 8-9 SU. Chicago is covering 38.9% of the time, going 7-11 straight up.

The Buffalo Sabres head into this game holding a record of 9 wins and 6 losses, which is good for 5th in the Atlantic Division. Thus far in the season, they have converted a total of 53 goals which is good for 12th in the conference and 21st in the NHL. Their goal differential is +1, which is good for 16th in the NHL. The Sabres currently have a total of 21 points, which is good for 18th in the NHL and 10th in the East. With regard to shots on goal, they currently have a total of 548 which is good for 12th in the East and 26th in the NHL. As a group, Buffalo has racked up a total of 275 hits which means they have an average of 15.3 per contest. They currently have a total of 166 blocks for the year. Looking after the net for Buffalo is Carter Hutton from Savonlinna, Finland. He is 34 years old and has played 664 minutes protecting the goal this year. Hutton is allowing 2.62 GAA which has him ranking 7th among East goalies and 17th among goalies in the NHL. During this season, he's surrendered 29 goals. His save % is .913 which has him ranking 9th among East goalies.

Related: NHL Totals Betting: Expert Tips and Advice

The Buffalo Sabres were on the losing side of the ice with a 5 - 4 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes in their previous game. The Sabres had a good offensive performance and it was apparent in the loss. In this game, they scored on 4 out of the 33 shots they put on goal. Additionally, they had 3 power play chances but weren't able to score a goal. Buffalo ended up with a total of 28 penalty minutes in this outing. The Corsi for the Sabres was 30 and the Corsi against was 36 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 45.5%. Their Fenwick was 26 while the Fenwick against at even strength sat at 28, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 48.1%. They earned 20 face-off wins and were beaten on 34 of the face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 59.6% and they had a PDO of 104.8 for this one. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes earned 29 shots. They had a total of 8 penalty mins and they had 3 power play chances.

The Blackhawks will be the team across the ice and for the current year they sit with 7 wins and 7 defeats. When talking about goal differential, they currently sit 9th in the Western Conference and 21st in the league with -4. They currently have a total of 50 goals for the year which ranks them 14th in the Western Conference. Chicago has a team save percentage of .919 which has them ranked 5th in the league, which means chances to score may be limited. They are shooting 9.1% ranking them 9th in the West. In net for is Robin Lehner who is having a marginal campaign by allowing 2.51 GAA and that has him 7th in the Western Conference and 11th in the NHL. In the 550 mins he's played this season, he has allowed 23 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .934, which places him at 1st in the Western Conference and 2nd in the NHL.

Related: How to Turn Hockey Bets into Big Profits

The Chicago Blackhawks squared up with the Vegas Golden Knights in a matchup where the Blackhawks ended up with the win by a final score of 5 - 3. In this game, Chicago had a 39.6% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 36 while their opponent had a Corsi of 55. Their Fenwick rate was 40.0% by way of having a Fenwick of 30 and the Golden Knights having a 45 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Chicago had and it was a good performance overall. They had a PDO at even strength of 116.3 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 27.3%. The Blackhawks converted 5 goals out of the 26 shots on goal they pursued. They had 1 power play opportunity in this game but weren't able to put one in the back of the net. On the other side of the ice, the Golden Knights had 2 power play chances and used that advantage to score 1 goal. Chicago gave up 42 shots on goal and the Golden Knights had 4 penalty mins.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Buffalo (+104)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here