Buffalo Sabres vs Washington Capitals Prediction, 1/22/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Buffalo Sabres vs Washington Capitals

Date: Friday, January 22, 2021

Location: Capital One Arena in Washington, DC

TV: NBC Sports Washington

Odds/Point Spread: Sabres (+130) Capitals (-154)

Capital One Arena is the venue where Ilya Samsonov and the Washington Capitals (2-0-2) will play the Buffalo Sabres (1-3-0) on Friday. The Capitals open this game at -154 while the Sabres are coming in at +130. The O/U has been set at 6.5.

The Sabres will be looking to get a win in their next outing after their 3 - 0 defeat against the Flyers in their previous game. The Sabres didn't have a great showing offensively in the defeat. For the matchup, they scored on 0 of the 40 shots they put on net. They also had 3 power play chances but didn't get a goal. Buffalo earned 4 penalty minutes for this outing. The Corsi for the Sabres sat at 59 and the Corsi against was 40 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 59.6%. Their Fenwick was 44 while the Fenwick against at even strength was 34, giving them a Fenwick percentage of 56.4%. They took 25 face-off wins and lost 26 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 50.0% and they had a PDO of 88.0 in this game. Concerning opponent stats, the Philadelphia Flyers racked up 30 shots. They ended the game with 6 penalty mins and they notched 2 power play attempts.

Looking after the goal for Buffalo is Carter Hutton from Savonlinna, Finland. He is 35 years old and has totaled 158 mins minding the goal for the season. Hutton is conceding an average of 2.65 goals per game which puts him at 9th in the Eastern Conference and 16th in the NHL among goaltenders. For the season, he's surrendered 7 goals. He's earned a save % of .899 which puts him at 10th in the Eastern Conference. During the season thus far, they have converted a total of 11 goals which has them sitting at 6th in the Eastern Conference and 12th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -1, putting them at 20th in the NHL. The Sabres currently have a total of 2 points, which has them sitting at 28th in the NHL and 15th in the Eastern Conference. With regard to shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 134 which has them sitting at 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 7th in the NHL. As a group, Buffalo has compiled a total of 78 hits which means they are averaging 19.5 per game. They currently have a total of 36 blocks for the season.

The Capitals squared up with the Penguins in a game where the Capitals took a loss by a final of 5 - 4. Washington had a 47.7% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 42 and they conceded a Corsi of 46. Their Fenwick percentage was 44.1% with a Fenwick of 26 and the Penguins earning a 33 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Washington played and it was an excellent showing for this outing. Their PDO at even strength was 109.7 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 45.2%. The Capitals scored 4 goals of the 26 shots on goal they pursued. They had 2 power play attempts in this one but didn't score a goal. In discussing their opponent, the Penguins had 3 power play chances and went on to score 2 goals. Washington gave up 30 shots on goal and the Penguins earned 4 penalty mins.

In net for Washington is Ilya Samsonov who is having a rough season by surrendering 3.36 goals per game and that places him 13th among Eastern Conference goalies and 23rd in the NHL among goalies. In the 125 minutes he's played, he's given up 7 goals. His save % is .868, which places him at 16th among Eastern Conference goalies and 28th in the NHL among goalies. In terms of goal differential, they sit 6th in the conference and 11th in the NHL with +2. They currently have a total of 15 goals for this season which is good for 3rd in the East. Washington has a save % as a team of .886 which has them sitting 23rd in the NHL, which tells us scoring chances could be plentiful if they are aggressive. They are shooting 15.3% putting them at 1st in the East.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Buffalo (+130)

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