Buffalo Sabres vs Ottawa Senators Predictions, NHL Expert Picks 2/18/2020

Game: Buffalo Sabres vs Ottawa Senators

Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Location: Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON

TV: MSGB/TSN5/RDS2

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

Total/Over-Under: 6

Canadian Tire Centre is the venue where Marcus Hogberg and the Ottawa Senators (20-28-11, 7th in the Atlantic Division) will take on the Buffalo Sabres (27-24-8, 5th in the Atlantic Division) on Tuesday. The Senators open this contest at +100 while the Sabres are coming in at -110. The O/U is set at 6. The Sabres cover 44.8% of the time, having gone 26-32 SU. The Senators cover 33.9% of the time, going 20-39 straight up.

The Buffalo Sabres head into this game holding a record of 27 wins and 24 defeats, which is good for 5th in the Atlantic Division. So far this year, they have scored a total of 170 goals which has them ranked at 11th in the conference and 20th in the league. Their goal differential is -11, which is good for 23rd in the league. The Sabres have a total of 62 pts, which has them ranked at 23rd in the league and 13th in the conference. With reference to shots on goal, they have a total of 1,728 which has them ranked at 14th in the Eastern Conference and 27th in the league. As a unit, Buffalo currently has a total of 1,026 hits which means they are averaging 17.4 per game. They have a total of 557 blocks for the season. The man protecting the net for Buffalo is Carter Hutton from Savonlinna, Finland. He is 34 years old and has racked up 1,425 minutes in net for the year. Hutton is conceding 3.12 goals per game which places him at 25th among East goalies and 54th in the NHL among goaltenders. Over the course of this year, he's given up 74 goals. He holds a save percentage of .897 which places him at 28th among East goalies.

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The Buffalo Sabres were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 5 - 2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in their last game. The Sabres had a good offensive outing in this win. While out there on the ice, they finished 5 of the 36 shots they looked to score on. In addition, they had 3 power play attempts and were able to net 1 goal out of those opportunities. Buffalo racked up a total of 2 penalty mins for this matchup. The Corsi for the Sabres was 59 and the Corsi against was 39 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 60.2%. Their Fenwick was 47 while the Fenwick against sat at 29, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 61.8%. They earned 25 face-off wins and were beaten on 19 attempts to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts came in at 50.0% and they had a PDO at even strength of 103.4 in this one. Regarding their opponent, the Toronto Maple Leafs earned 22 shots. Their total at the end of the game was 6 penalty minutes and they notched 1 power play attempt.

The Senators will be the team across the ice and for the campaign they sit with 20 wins and 28 losses. In discussing goal differential, they are currently sitting 14th in the East and 28th in the league with -39. They currently have a total of 156 goals for this year which puts them at 14th in the East. Ottawa has a team save percentage of .902 which has them sitting 19th in the league, which tells us scoring chances could present themselves. They have a shooting percentage of 8.8% which is good for 12th in the East. In net for Ottawa is Marcus Hogberg who is having a tough year by surrendering 2.96 goals per game and that has him ranked 22nd among Eastern Conference goalies and 45th in the NHL among goalies. In the 1,035 mins he's played this season, he has allowed 51 goals. He has a save % of .911, which places him at 17th among Eastern Conference goalies and 32nd in the NHL among goalies.

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The Ottawa Senators played the Dallas Stars in a game where the Senators took home the victory by a final of 4 - 3. For this outing, Ottawa went home with a 55.1% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 70 while their opponent had a Corsi of 57. Their Fenwick rate was 54.3% by earning a Fenwick of 57 and the Stars ending the game with a 48 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Ottawa played and we'd say they played well overall. Their PDO at even strength was 99.3 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 46.9%. The Senators converted 4 goals out of the 46 shots on goal they attempted. They had 2 power play opportunities in this one and were able to convert 1 out of those chances. Regarding the opposition, the Stars had 1 power play attempt but were not able to take advantage. Ottawa gave way to 39 shots on goal and the Stars had a total of 6 minutes in the box.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Buffalo (-110)

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