Two of the better teams in their respective conferences, the Buffalo Sabres and the Nashville Predators face off at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, December 3, and you will be able to witness this East-West matchup live on Fox Sports Tennesse.
Buffalo Sabres vs. Nashville Predators Odds
With a -180 moneyline, Nashville enters the game as the heavy favorite. The line for Buffalo sits at +160, and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. If gamblers want to put some action on this matchup’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -105 for the over and -115 on the under.
Earning 3.4 units for moneyline bettors, the Predators are 18-9 straight up (SU) overall this year. That winning percentage, ranked third in the league in this young season, is right in line with the 53-29 record the team produced during the 2017-18 season campaign. Of the team’s 27 regular season matches, 14 have gone under the total, while 12 have gone over and just one has pushed. The team’s 10-5 SU at home this year.
Nashville’s converted on just 16.0 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that places the team in the bottom-10 overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 13th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.2 percent of all penalties.
Nashville, as a collective unit, has been whistled for penalties 4.0 times per game overall this season, and 5.6 per game over its last five contests at home. The team has had to kill penalties for a whopping 14.2 minutes per game over its last five matchups, in total.
Averaging 25.2 saves per game with a .934 save percentage, Pekka Rinne (12-6-1) has been the most dependable option in goal for the Predators this year. If they choose to give him the evening off, however, head coach Peter Laviolette might roll with Juuse Saros (7-4-4 record, .891 save percentage, 3.29 goals against average).
Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg will each lead the way for the Predators. Johansen (23 points) has tallied five goals and 18 assists and has recorded multiple points on seven separate occasions this year. Forsberg has 14 goals and eight assists to his credit and has recorded a point in 15 games.
Buffalo has earned 10.6 units for moneyline bettors this season and is currently 17-10 straight up (SU). A total of 13 of its games have gone over the total, while another 13 have gone under the total and just one has pushed. As the visiting team so far, Buffalo is 8-7 SU.
Buffalo has converted on 19.5 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 13th overall and it’s successfully killed off 80.2 percent of all opponent power plays.
Buffalo’s skaters have been penalized 3.5 times per game this season, 3.8 per game over their past five games total, and 4.0 per game over their last five games as the visiting team. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 7.8 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Carter Hutton (.917 save percentage and 2.63 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for Buffalo. Hutton is averaging 28.2 saves per game and has 12 wins, eight losses, and one OT loss to his credit.
For the visiting Sabres, the offense will be heavily coordinated by Jack Eichel (five goals, 27 assists) and Jeff Skinner (20 goals, eight assists).
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Notes
Betting Notes
For both of these clubs, the over has hit in three of their last five outings.
Six of Nashville’s last ten games have been decided by two or more goals, and the team is 4-2 overall in those games.
Buffalo skaters recorded 21.5 hits per game last season, while the Preds posted 21.0 hits per contest.
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