Montreal Canadiens vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction, 10/14/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Montreal Canadiens vs Buffalo Sabres

Date: Thursday, October 14, 2021

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: MSG Network

Odds/Point Spread: Canadiens (-127) Sabres (+115)

Jake Allen and the Montreal Canadiens (24-21-11) go to KeyBank Center on Thursday where they'll take on the Buffalo Sabres (15-34-7). The moneyline on this game has the Canadiens coming in at -127 and the Sabres are at +115. The total has been set at 5½.

The Canadiens were on the losing side of the ice with a 1-0 loss against the Lightning in their last contest. The Canadiens didn't have their best offensive outing in the defeat. In the game, they went home without being able to finish on any of the 22 shots they looked to score on. Furthermore, they had 3 attempts on the power play but weren't able to score. Montreal earned 8 minutes in the box in this game. The Corsi for the Canadiens came in at 38 and the Corsi against at the end of this game was 38 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 50.0%. Their Fenwick was 29 and the Fenwick against finished at 30, giving them a Fenwick rate of 49.2%. They recorded 24 face-off victories when at even strength and were beaten on 21 opportunities to take control of the puck. Their offensive zone starts sat at 23.0% and they had a PDO of 95.5 for this matchup.

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When it comes to their goal scoring prowess, the Montreal Canadiens racked up 158 goals (17th in the NHL) last year and allowed 165. For the prior campaign, they recorded 59 points and their points % was .527. Montreal finished with 151 power play opportunities and tallied 29 goals out of those tries, giving them a percentage of 19.21%. While playing at even strength, the Canadiens allowed the opponent to score 128 goals while notching 129. Montreal tried 1,746 shots and held a shooting percentage of 9.1%. The Canadiens had 1,579 shots attempted against them and earned a save percentage of .896. Montreal Canadiens opponents had 172 power play opportunities (8th in hockey) and tallied 37 goals in those attempts.

Patrolling the crease for the game will be Jake Allen. Opponents have scored 748 goals versus Allen in his career and his goals against average is 2.52. Allen has been involved in 318 contests over the course of his professional hockey career. His save percentage currently is at .912 in his 17,809 mins on the ice. He has an overall mark of 159-106-31 and he has started in 298 games. For his professional hockey career, Allen has accounted for 160 quality starts and his quality starts percentage sits at .537. Allen has seen 8,498 shot attempts taken against him and has recorded 7,750 saves.

In their last game, Buffalo went up against the Penguins in a matchup where the Sabres were on the wrong end of the score by a final score of 1-0. Their PDO at even strength was 95 and they had an oZS percentage of 59.4%. They had 1 opportunity on the power play in this matchup but weren't able to notch a goal. Their Fenwick percentage came in at 55.7% by tallying a Fenwick of 34 and the Penguins having accrued a 27 Fenwick at even strength. The Sabres converted 0 goals out of the 29 shots on goal they were seeking. Buffalo had a 53.4% Corsi rate. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Buffalo played and you can safely assume that they'll look to improve in their next outing.

Buffalo took 1,592 shots (26th in the NHL) and had a shot percentage of 8.42%, while allowing the opposition 1,889 shots. They recorded a penalty kill percentage of 77.70% on their opposition's 139 power play opportunities, and their save percentage was at 89.6%. They had a total of 143 power play chances and they have accumulated a power play percentage of 20.98%. The Sabres had 104 goals at even strength and 30 goals (20th in hockey) while having more men on the ice. They allowed 196 goals to be scored by of a combination of 165 goals at even strength and 31 goals while they had less men on the ice. For the year, the Buffalo Sabres had a total of 134 goals, 37 points, in addition to a points percentage of .330.

Across the ice you will find Dustin Tokarski defending the net. He has racked up 1,161 saves out of the 1,284 shots attempted against him, giving him a save percentage of .904. Tokarski has a career mark of 12-20-7 and has participated in 47 games. He got the starting nod in 37 games and his ice time sits at 2,421 mins. Tokarski's rate of quality starts sits at 45.9% and he has 17 quality starts in his NHL career. His opponents are averaging 3.05 goals per contest and he has surrendered 123 goals in total.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Montreal (-127)

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