Columbus Blue Jackets vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction, 11/22/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Buffalo Sabres

Date: Monday, November 22, 2021

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: MSG Network

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (-120) Sabres (-105)

Craig Anderson and the Buffalo Sabres (7-7-2) play the Columbus Blue Jackets (9-6-0) at KeyBank Center on Monday. The Sabres open this game at -105 while the Blue Jackets are priced at -120. The O/U opens at 5.5.

The Blue Jackets will need a bounce back game after taking a 3-2 loss to the Golden Knights in their previous game. The Blue Jackets didn't have a great showing offensively in the defeat. While out there on the ice, they scored on 2 out of the 29 shots they put on goal. Moreover, they had 4 power play chances but weren't able to score. Columbus garnered 10 penalty minutes in this outing. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets came in at 48 and the Corsi against was at 53 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 47.5%. Their Fenwick came in at 31 and the Fenwick against was 37, giving them a Fenwick percentage of 45.6%. They had a tally of 30 face-off wins when at even strength and lost on 18 opportunities to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 51.5% and they had a PDO at even strength of 98.1 in this game.

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Columbus Blue Jackets opponents have tallied 45 power play opportunities (26th in pro hockey) and have a total of 7 goals in those chances. The Blue Jackets have had 508 shots taken against them and have earned a save percentage of .907. Columbus has attempted 474 shots and holds a shot percentage of 10.1%. When playing at even strength, the Blue Jackets have surrendered 40 goals while earning 39 on the offensive side of the ice. Columbus has accumulated 44 power play chances and they have notched 9 goals out of those tries, garnering them a rate of 20.45%. For the year, they have recorded 18 points and their points percentage is .600. Regarding their goal scoring prowess, the Columbus Blue Jackets have earned 48 goals (16th in the National Hockey League) so far this season and have allowed 47.

The man in goal for this game is Elvis Merzlikins. The opposition has been able to score 164 goals versus Merzlikins in his pro hockey career and his goals against average is 2.55. Merzlikins has been involved in 70 games during his pro hockey career. His save percentage sits at .920 during his 3,857 minutes played. He has earned an overall mark of 28-23-13 and he started in 63 games. Over the course of his career, Merzlikins has compiled 36 quality starts and his percentage for quality starts is .571. Merzlikins has had 2,040 shot attempts taken against him and has recorded 1,876 total saves.

When they were on the ice last, Buffalo faced off against the Flames in an outing where the Sabres went home in defeat by a mark of 5-0. Buffalo had a 40.8% Corsi rate. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Buffalo had and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. Their Fenwick percentage was 40.8% by notching a Fenwick of 29 and the Flames having racked up a 42 Fenwick. Their PDO was 87 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 30.4%. The Sabres scored 0 goals out of the 27 shots on goal they tried. They had 2 power play attempts in this outing but weren't able to notch a goal.

Buffalo has tried 456 shots (29th in pro hockey) and has a shooting percentage of 9.65%, while allowing the other team 526 shots. They have earned a penalty kill rate of 80.00% on the other teams 45 chances on the power play, and their save percentage comes in at 90.7%. They have recorded 44 opportunities on the power play and they have earned a power play percentage of 18.18%. The Sabres have tallied 36 goals at even strength and 8 goals (26th in pro hockey) while on the power play. They have granted a total of 49 goals to be scored by of a combination of 40 goals at even strength and 9 goals while they were shorthanded. So far this year, the Buffalo Sabres have accumulated 44 goals, 16 points, as well as a points percentage of .500.

For the opposition you are likely to see Craig Anderson defending the goal. Anderson is the owner of a career mark of 295-254-69 and has participated in 658 games. Anderson's quality start percentage is 53.8% and he has qualified for 308 quality starts in his pro hockey career. He is sitting with 18,426 saves out of 20,184 shots taken against him, which gives him a percentage of .913. His opponents are averaging 2.83 goals per contest and he has allowed 1,758 goals altogether. He has made the start in 572 games and has played 37,232 mins.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Columbus (-120)

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