Ryan Johansen, Roman Josi, and the Nashville Predators will do battle against Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, and the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Center in an East-West tilt. The first puck will drop at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, April 2, and fans at home will be able to catch it live on Fox Sports Tennesse.
Nashville Predators at Buffalo Sabres Odds
With a -200 moneyline, Nashville enters the game as the substantial favorite. The line for Buffalo sits at +170, and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals (-120 money on the under, +100 on the over).
Nashville is 44-35 straight up (SU) and has lost 8.6 units for moneyline bettors this year. 44 of its contests have gone under the total, while 32 have gone over and just three have pushed. As an away team this season, the Preds are 21-19 SU.
Nashville has converted on just 13.3 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that places them in the bottom- overall among NHL teams. Having said that, it has the fifth-best penalty kill in the league, and the team’s successfully killed off 82.4 percent of its penalties..
Averaging 25.7 saves per game with a .917 save percentage, Pekka Rinne (28-25-5) has been the best option in goal for Nashville this year. If head coach Peter Laviolette decides to rest him, however, Nashville may roll with Juuse Saros (17-14-2), who has a .915 save percentage and 2.62 goals against average this year.
On the other side of the ice, Buffalo is 31-48 straight up (SU) and has lost 14.7 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 79 regular season contests, 42 of its games have gone over the total, while 34 have gone under and just three have pushed. It’s 20-19 SU at home this season.
The Sabres have converted on just 18.4 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 17th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.6 percent of all opponent power plays.
Carter Hutton has stopped 28.0 shots per game as the top selection in goal for the Sabres. Hutton has 17 wins, 31 losses, and five OT losses to his credit and has maintained a pedestrian 3.02 goals against average and a poor .908 save percentage this season.
Nashville Predators vs. Buffalo Sabres Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Sabres, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
- Eight of Buffalo’s last ten contests have been decided by two or more goals, and the team is 0-8 overall in those games.
- Penalties and power plays may prove to be extremely important in this game. The Predators are 15-13 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 31-23 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Sabres are 11-22 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 24-36 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
- Buffalo is 5-3 in games decided by a shootout this season while Nashville is 4-2 in shootouts.
- The total has gone under in four of Nashville’s last five outings.
- Nashville is ranked 17th this season with 10.4 giveaways per game. That figure’s trended higher, as the team’s averaged 11.4 giveaways over its last 10 games and 11.2 giveaways over its last five.
- Buffalo skaters have averaged 9.2 giveaways over its last five home games, right in line with its season average of 9.4 giveaways per game (ranked 10th in the league).
