Florida Panthers vs. Buffalo Sabres - 1/4/20 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Florida Panthers vs Buffalo Sabres

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2020

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: MSGB/FSFL

Odds/Point Spread: Panthers (+100) Sabres (-110)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

KeyBank Center is the venue where Linus Ullmark and the Buffalo Sabres (18-17-7, 5th in the Atlantic Division) will take on the Florida Panthers (21-14-5, 4th in the Atlantic Division) on Saturday. The Sabres open this matchup at -110 while the Panthers are coming in at +100. The over/under is set at 6.5. The Panthers cover 48.7% of the time, having gone 18-19 SU. The Sabres cover 41.5% of the time, going 17-24 straight up.

The Florida Panthers step onto the ice holding a record of 21 victories and 14 defeats, which puts them at 4th in the Atlantic Division. So far this season, they have converted a total of 142 goals which ranks 3rd in the conference and 4th in the league. Their goal differential is +8, which puts them at 13th in the league. The Panthers have compiled a total of 47 pts, which ranks 15th in the league and 9th in the conference. When discussing shots at the opposing goalie, they have compiled a total of 1,330 which ranks 6th in the conference and 10th in the league. As a team, Florida currently has a total of 681 hits which has them averaging 17 per game. They have compiled a total of 500 blocks for the year. Looking after the net for Florida is Sergei Bobrovsky from Ogdensburg, New York. He is 31 years old and has racked up 1,810 minutes protecting the net this season. Bobrovsky is conceding 3.28 goals per game which places him at 28th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 59th among goalies in the NHL. For the year, he's surrendered 99 goals. His save percentage is .897 which places him at 26th among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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The Florida Panthers will head into their next game feeling good after earning a 6 - 3 win over the Ottawa Senators in their previous game. The Panthers had a impressive offensive outing in this victory. In this matchup, they finished 6 of the 31 shots they put on goal. In addition, they had 3 power play attempts and scored 2 goals out of those opportunities. Florida ended up with 6 penalty mins for this matchup. The Corsi for the Panthers sat at 47 and the Corsi against was 61 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 43.5%. Their Fenwick was 33 and the Fenwick against was 41, which tells us they had a Fenwick percentage of 44.6%. They took 24 face-off wins and lost 23 of all total face-offs. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 39.3% and they had a PDO of 103.6 for this one. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Ottawa Senators put up 31 shots. They had 6 minutes in the box and they earned 3 power play chances.

The Sabres are the team looking to add points to their total and for the season they sit with 18 wins and 17 defeats. In discussing goal differential, they currently sit 13th in the conference and 21st in the NHL with -9. They have a total of 123 goals for the season which has them ranked at 11th in the East. Buffalo has a save % as a team of .900 which is good for 22nd in the NHL, which means scoring chances could present themselves. They have a shooting percentage of 9.6% ranking them 10th in the conference. In net for Buffalo is Linus Ullmark who is having an average year by surrendering 2.86 goals against average and that places him 15th among East goalies and 29th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,553 minutes he's been on the ice this season, he's given up 74 goals. He has a save percentage of .910, which has him ranked 12th among East goalies and 28th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Buffalo Sabres went up against the Edmonton Oilers in a game where the Sabres earned a victory by a tally of 3 - 2. For this game, Buffalo went home with a 50.7% Corsi rating. They ended up with that by earning a Corsi of 37 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 36. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 49.2% by way of having a Fenwick of 30 and the Oilers ending the game with a 31 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Buffalo had and we'd say they played an average game. They had a PDO of 105.0 and their oZS percentage was 50.0%. The Sabres notched 3 goals out of the 26 shots on goal they took. They had 2 power play opportunities in this game but weren't able to notch a goal. Concerning their opponent, the Oilers had 1 power play attempt but didn't tally a goal. Buffalo gave way to 27 shots on goal and the Oilers earned 4 minutes in the box.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Florida (+100)

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