Edmonton Oilers vs. Buffalo Sabres - 1/2/20 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Edmonton Oilers vs Buffalo Sabres

Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: MSGB/RSNW

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

Total/Over-Under: 6

Mikko Koskinen and the Edmonton Oilers (21-17-4, 4th in the Pacific Division) are headed to KeyBank Center on Thursday where they'll meet the Buffalo Sabres (17-17-7, 6th in the Atlantic Division). The odds on this contest have the Oilers coming in at +104 and the Sabres are at -115. The O/U has been set at 6. The Oilers are covering 47.5% of the time, having gone 19-21 SU. The Sabres are covering 40.0% of the time, going 16-24 straight up.

The Edmonton Oilers come into this matchup holding a record of 21 victories and 17 defeats, putting them at 4th in the Pacific Division. During the year thus far, they have scored a total of 123 goals which is 8th in the West and 18th in the league. Their goal differential is -10, putting them at 22nd in the league. The Oilers have compiled a total of 46 points, which is 15th in the league and 7th in the conference. When discussing shots at the opposition, they have compiled a total of 1,225 which is 12th in the conference and 23rd in the league. As a team, Edmonton has a total of 842 hits which has them averaging 20 per game. They have compiled a total of 529 blocks for the season. The man in net for Edmonton is Mikko Koskinen from Vantaa, Finland. He is 31 years old and has racked up 1,472 mins minding the goal for the year. Koskinen is conceding an average of 2.85 goals per contest which has him sitting 15th among Western Conference goalies and 28th in the NHL among goaltenders. So far this season, he has surrendered 70 goals. His save percentage is .912 which has him sitting 16th among Western Conference goalies.

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The Edmonton Oilers came out of this game feeling pretty good about themselves with a 7 - 5 win against the New York Rangers in their last contest. The Oilers had a good offensive outing and it showed in the win. For this game, they finished 7 out of the 31 shots they looked to score on. Additionally, they had 6 power play opportunities and netted 3 goals out of those opportunities. Edmonton had a total of 6 penalty mins while out there on the ice. The Corsi for the Oilers was 42 and the Corsi against was 67 giving them a Corsi percentage of 38.5%. Their Fenwick sat at 32 while the Fenwick against sat at 44, telling us they have a Fenwick percentage of 42.1%. They earned 21 face-off wins and lost 32 attempts to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 37.5% and they had a PDO of 100.9 in this game. With regard to the opposition's stats, the New York Rangers earned a total of 33 shots. They had 16 minutes in the box and they notched 1 power play opportunity.

The Sabres are the team looking to add points to their total and for the campaign they have 17 wins and 17 losses. Regarding goal differential, they are sitting 13th in the Eastern Conference and 21st in the NHL with -10. They have compiled a total of 120 goals for this season which is good for 11th in the East. Buffalo has a save percentage as a team of .899 which currently has them sitting 22nd in the NHL, meaning scoring chances could be plentiful if they are aggressive. They have a team shooting percentage of 9.6% which is good for 10th in the conference. In goal for Buffalo is Linus Ullmark who is having a bad season by allowing 2.90 goals against average and that has him ranked 15th in the East and 31st in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,491 minutes he's been on the ice this season, he's allowed 72 goals. He has a save % of .909, which has him ranked 13th in the East and 30th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Buffalo Sabres faced the Tampa Bay Lightning in an outing where the Sabres were on the wrong end of the score by a final score of 6 - 4. For this game, Buffalo wound up with a 52.9% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 36 and the other team having a Corsi of 32. Their Fenwick rate came in at 52.6% by notching a Fenwick of 30 and the Lightning ending the game with a 27 Fenwick. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Buffalo played and they put on a good performance in this one. They had a PDO at even strength of 94.3 and their oZS percentage was 65.3%. The Sabres netted 4 goals of the 28 shots on goal they took. They had 4 power play attempts in this outing but didn't put one in the back of the net. On the other side of the ice, the Lightning had 5 power play attempts and took advantage of the situation by scoring 2 goals. Buffalo allowed 27 shots on goal and the Lightning racked up 15 penalty minutes.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Edmonton (+104)

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