Washington Capitals vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction, 4/9/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Washington Capitals vs Buffalo Sabres

Date: Friday, April 9, 2021

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: MSG-B

Odds/Point Spread: Capitals (-240) Sabres (+200)

Vitek Vanecek and the Washington Capitals (25-10-4) travel to KeyBank Center on Friday where they'll take on the Buffalo Sabres (9-23-6). The Capitals open this contest at -240 while the Sabres are coming in at +200. The O/U has been set at 5.5.

The Capitals will be looking to get a win in their next outing after their 1-0 defeat to the Islanders in their last outing. The Capitals had a below average offensive performance in the defeat. In the game, they ended the night with no scores out of the 29 shots they put on goal. Furthermore, they had 2 opportunities with more players on the ice but weren't able to convert one of them into a goal. Washington amassed 4 penalty minutes in this contest. The Corsi for the Capitals sat at 47 and the Corsi against when this game finished was 56 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 45.6%. Their Fenwick was 33 and the Fenwick against finished at 46, giving them a Fenwick percentage of 41.8%. They recorded 24 face-off wins at even strength and lost on 26 attempts to take control of the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 58.3% and they had a PDO of 97.1 for this matchup.

When talking about their scoring capabilities, the Washington Capitals have notched 130 goals (6th in the National Hockey League) so far this season and have given up 116. For the current campaign, they have tallied 54 points and their points percentage is .692. Washington has accumulated 96 power play chances and they have scored 23 goals out of those attempts, garnering them a percentage of 23.96%. While at even strength, the Capitals have given up 96 goals while getting 107 themselves. Washington has tried 1,084 shots and is the owner of a shot percentage of 12.0%. The Capitals have had 1,140 shots tried against them and are the owners of a save percentage of .898. Washington Capitals opponents have totaled 117 power play opportunities (16th in professional hockey) and have scored 20 goals in those attempts.

The player between the pipes for this game is Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek has been involved in 27 contests over the course of his professional hockey career. He has an overall mark of 15-7-3 and he started in 26 games. The opposition has scored 68 goals against Vanecek in his career and his goals against average per game is 2.64. Vanecek has seen 762 shots taken against him and has garnered 694 total saves. His save percentage is at .911 during his 1,544 mins played. During his career on the ice, Vanecek has tallied 14 quality starts and his rate for quality starts is .538.

Their last time out, Buffalo faced off against the Devils in a matchup where the Sabres got the victory by a final of 5-3. They had 2 chances on the power play in this one and notched 1 out of those attempts. The Sabres netted 5 goals out of the 18 shots on goal they pursued. Their PDO was 117 and their oZS percentage was 47.5%. Buffalo had a 35.2% Corsi rate. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Buffalo played and it was an excellent showing for this outing. Their Fenwick percentage was 32.8% by tallying a Fenwick of 19 and the Devils finishing with a 39 Fenwick.

During this campaign, the Buffalo Sabres have 84 goals, 24 points, in addition to a points percentage of .316. They have allowed 129 goals to be scored by way of 108 goals at even strength and 21 goals while they had less men on the ice. The Sabres have tallied 63 goals at even strength and 21 goals (21st in the league) while on the power play. They have a total of 93 chances on the power play and they have accumulated a power play rate of 22.58%. Buffalo has attempted 1,049 shots (31st in professional hockey) and has accumulated a shot percentage of 8.01%, while allowing the opposition 1,222 shots. They have a penalty kill rate of 79.21% on the other teams 101 opportunities on the power play, and their save percentage comes in at 89.4%.

For the opposition you will find Carter Hutton protecting the net. His opposition is averaging 2.71 goals per game and he has allowed 565 goals in total. Hutton's quality start rate comes in at 50.5% and he has 103 quality starts in his NHL career. He got the starting nod in 204 games and has accumulated 12,492 mins. Hutton is the owner of a career record of 94-88-27 and has participated in 232 games. He has a tally of 5,656 stops out of 6,221 shots taken, giving him a percentage of .909.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Washington (-240)

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