Washington Capitals vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction, 1/14/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Washington Capitals vs Buffalo Sabres

Date: Thursday, January 14, 2021

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: NHL Center Ice

Odds/Point Spread: Capitals (-135) Sabres (+115)

Linus Ullmark and the Buffalo Sabres play the Washington Capitals at KeyBank Center on Thursday. The line on this contest has the Capitals coming in at -135 and the Sabres are at +115. The O/U is set at 6.5.

The Capitals were on the wrong end of the scoreboard with a 4 - 0 loss to the Islanders the last time they stepped on the ice last season. The Capitals had a below average offensive outing in this defeat. For the matchup, they earned a goal on 0 of the 21 shots they put on goal. In addition, they had 2 power play attempts but didn't net one. Washington ended up with 6 penalty minutes in this game. The Corsi for the Capitals sat at 57 and the Corsi against was 25 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 69.5%. Their Fenwick was 32 and the Fenwick against sat at 21, which earned them a rate of 60.4%. They earned 21 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 18 tries to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 24.3% and they had a PDO of 76.9 for this matchup. Regarding their opponent, the New York Islanders put up 17 shots. They finished with 4 minutes in the box and they tallied 3 power play chances.

The goaltender for Washington is Ilya Samsonov from Magnitogorsk, Russian Federation. He is 22 years old and racked up 1,411 minutes minding the net last season. Samsonov gave up 2.55 goals per game which had him sitting 8th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 13th in the NHL. During last year, he gave up 60 goals. He earned a save percentage of .913 which has him sitting 14th among Eastern Conference goaltenders. They scored a total of 236 goals which ranked 3rd in the East and 3rd in the NHL. Their goal differential was +24, which put them at 7th in the NHL. The Capitals compiled a total of 90 points, which ranked 5th in the NHL and 3rd in the conference. In connection with shots at the opposing goalie, they compiled a total of 2,206 which ranked 7th in the conference and 15th in the NHL. As a unit, Washington had a total of 1,606 hits which means they had an average of 23.3 per contest. They compiled a total of 754 blocks for the season.

The Sabres played the Capitals in an outing where the Sabres earned a victory by a tally of 3 - 2 in their final game of the season. Buffalo had a 40.9% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 36 and they conceded a Corsi of 52. Their Fenwick rate was 39.7% by way of having a Fenwick of 27 and the Capitals having a 41 Fenwick. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Buffalo played and it tells us they had an average game overall. They had a PDO at even strength of 98.8 and their percentage of oZS was 36.6%. The Sabres converted 3 goals out of the 26 shots on goal they attempted. They had 3 power play attempts in this one and converted 1 out of those opportunities. Regarding their opponent, the Capitals had 1 power play attempt but weren't able to take advantage of it. Buffalo allowed 35 shots on goal and the Capitals racked up 6 penalty mins.

In goal for Buffalo is Linus Ullmark who had a marginal season by giving up 2.69 goals against average and that placed him 14th among East goaltenders and 26th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 2,027 minutes he played, he allowed 91 goals. He earned a save percentage of .915, which had him sitting 9th among East goaltenders and 23rd among goaltenders in the NHL. When discussing goal differential, they ranked 13th in the East and 25th in the league with -22. They earned a total of 193 goals for the year which was 11th in the East. Buffalo had a save percentage as a team of .900 which currently had them sitting 24th in the league, which means scoring chances could present themselves. They had a shooting percentage of 9.5% putting them at 10th in the East.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Buffalo (+115)

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