Buffalo Sabres vs. Toronto Maple Leafs - 12/17/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Buffalo Sabres vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: TSN4/NBCS

Odds/Point Spread: Sabres (+175) Maple Leafs (-195)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Scotiabank Arena is the venue where Frederik Andersen and the Toronto Maple Leafs (16-14-4, 3rd in the Atlantic Division) will take on the Buffalo Sabres (16-11-7, 2nd in the Atlantic Division) on Tuesday. The Sabres open this game at +175 while the Maple Leafs are priced at -195. The over/under opens at 6.5. The Sabres are covering 45.5% of the time, having gone 15-18 SU. The Maple Leafs are covering 45.5% of the time, going 15-18 straight up.

The Buffalo Sabres head into this game holding a record of 16 wins and 11 defeats, which is good for 2nd in the Atlantic Division. So far this season, they have converted a total of 106 goals which is 7th in the East and 9th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +4, which is good for 12th in the NHL. The Sabres currently have a total of 39 pts, which is 14th in the NHL and 6th in the Eastern Conference. When looking at shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 1,052 which is 10th in the conference and 16th in the NHL. As a group, Buffalo has obtained a total of 581 hits which means they have an average of 17.1 per game. They currently have a total of 318 blocks for the year. The man protecting the goal for Buffalo is Linus Ullmark from Elmhurst, Illinois. He is 26 years old and has played a total of 1,142 mins minding the net this season. Kinkaid is allowing 2.84 goals per contest which has him placed 17th in the East and 32nd in the NHL among goalies. For the season, he's given up 54 goals. He holds a save percentage of .915 which has him placed 12th in the East.

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The Buffalo Sabres were on the wrong end of the scoreboard with a 3 - 2 defeat to the New York Islanders in their previous contest. The Sabres left a lot to be desired in terms of their offense in the loss. In this matchup, they scored on 2 of the 35 shots they put on net. Moreover, they had 3 power play chances and were able to score 2 goals out of those attempts. Buffalo earned 8 penalty mins in this matchup. The Corsi for the Sabres sat at 48 and the Corsi against at even strength was 33 which means they earned a Corsi percentage of 59.3%. Their Fenwick sat at 32 while the Fenwick against was 27, giving them a Fenwick percentage of 54.2%. They took 11 face-off wins and were beaten on 25 of all total face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 60.0% and they had a PDO of 87.0 in this game. With regard to the opposition's stats, the New York Islanders earned 26 shots. They had 8 minutes in the box and they earned a total of 3 power play opportunities.

The Maple Leafs will be on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 16 victories and 14 losses. In discussing goal differential, they are sitting 10th in the Eastern Conference and 17th in the league with +2. They currently have a total of 109 goals for the season which ranks 4th in the conference. Toronto has a team save % of .904 which has them ranked 18th in the league, meaning scoring chances could be there if they are opportunistic. They have a team shooting percentage of 9.6% putting them at 9th in the conference. In net for Toronto is Frederik Andersen who is having an ok year by giving up 2.49 GAA and that places him 11th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 18th in the NHL among goalies. In the 1,617 minutes he has played this season, he's allowed 67 goals. He holds a save % of .921, which has him ranked 10th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 17th in the NHL among goalies.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs went up against the Edmonton Oilers in a game where the Maple Leafs earned a victory by a score of 4 - 1. In this matchup, Toronto wound up with a 48.2% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 53 and the other team having a Corsi of 57. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 50.6% with a Fenwick of 45 and the Oilers earning a 44 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Toronto played and it was a good performance overall. They had a PDO of 109.7 and they had an oZS percentage of 46.9%. The Maple Leafs notched 4 goals out of the 32 shots on goal they attempted. They had 1 power play chance in this game and were able to convert 1 on that try. On the other side of the ice, the Oilers had 2 power play opportunities and used that advantage to score 1 goal. Toronto conceded 37 shots on goal and the Oilers had 2 penalty mins.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Toronto (-195)

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