Washington Capitals vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction, 1/15/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Washington Capitals vs Buffalo Sabres

Date: Friday, January 15, 2021

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: NBCSWA

Odds/Point Spread: Capitals (-135) Sabres (+110)

KeyBank Center is the site where Linus Ullmark and the Buffalo Sabres will play the Washington Capitals on Friday. The Capitals open this contest at -135 while the Sabres are coming in at +110. The O/U is set at 6.5.

The Capitals ended last season by taking a 4 - 0 defeat against the Islanders the last time they stepped on the ice. The Capitals didn't have their best offensive outing in the loss. In the game, they scored on 0 of the 21 shots they tried. Furthermore, they had 2 power play opportunities but weren't able to notch a goal in these power play chances. Washington had 6 penalty minutes in this game. The Corsi for the Capitals was 57 and the Corsi against was 25 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 69.5%. Their Fenwick sat at 32 while the Fenwick against was 21, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 60.4%. They took 21 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 18 attempts to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 24.3% and they had a PDO of 76.9 for this matchup. When it comes to their opponent, the New York Islanders earned a total of 17 shots. They ended the game with 4 penalty mins and they earned 3 power play chances.

The goaltender for Washington is Ilya Samsonov from Magnitogorsk, Russian Federation. He is 22 years old and totaled 1,411 minutes defending the goal last season. Samsonov surrendered 2.55 goals per game which had him sitting 8th in the East and 13th among goaltenders in the NHL. For the season, he allowed 60 goals. His save % was .913 which had him sitting 14th in the East. The Capitals scored a total of 236 goals which ranked 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 3rd in the NHL. Their goal differential was +24, which was good for 7th in the NHL. The Capitals had a total of 90 pts, which ranked 5th in the NHL and 3rd in the East. In connection with shots on goal, they had a total of 2,206 which ranked 7th in the East and 15th in the NHL. As a group, Washington earned a total of 1,606 hits which means they had an average of 23.3 per game. They had a total of 754 blocks for the season.

The Sabres opposed the Capitals in a matchup where the Sabres earned a win by a final of 3 - 2 in their last game of the season. Buffalo wound up with a 40.9% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 36 and they surrendered a Corsi of 52. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 39.7% with a Fenwick of 27 and the Capitals earning a 41 Fenwick. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Buffalo played and you could say that they played like a middle of the road team. They had a PDO at even strength of 98.8 and they had an oZS percentage of 36.6%. The Sabres notched 3 goals of the 26 shots on goal they pursued. They had 3 power play opportunities in this one and were able to notch 1 out of those attempts. As for their opponent, the Capitals had 1 power play chance but didn't tally a goal. Buffalo gave up 35 shots on goal and the Capitals had a total of 6 penalty mins.

In goal for Buffalo is Linus Ullmark who had an average campaign by surrendering 2.69 goals against average and that had him 14th among East goaltenders and 26th among goalies in the NHL. In the 2,027 mins he played, he surrendered 91 goals. He earned a save % of .915, which had him ranking 9th among East goaltenders and 23rd among goalies in the NHL. Buffalo was 13th in the Eastern Conference and 25th in the league with -22 goal differential. They compiled a total of 193 goals for the year which was good for 11th in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo had a team save percentage of .900 which was good for 24th in the league, meaning there should be some chances to score. They had a team shooting percentage of 9.5% which was good for 10th in the conference.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Washington (-135)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here