Jeff Skinner, Jack Eichel, and the Buffalo Sabres are set to do battle against David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in a divisional showdown. The action gets started at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, December 16, and you can see it live on New England Sports Network.
Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins Odds
Oddsmakers have not yet posted moneyline or Over/Under odds for this matchup.
Buffalo is 19-14 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 9.4 units this season. Through 33 regular season matches, 16 of its games have gone over the total, while 15 have gone under and just one has pushed. The Sabres are 8-9 SU as an away team in 2018-19.
Buffalo has converted on 19.8 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked ninth overall, and the team’s successfully killed off 82.7 percent of its penalties..
Boasting a .919 save percentage and 28.1 saves per game, Carter Hutton (13-10-2) has been the best option in goal for Buffalo this year. Hutton played last night, however, so Buffalo may opt to rest him and go with Linus Ullmark instead (7-4-3 record, .912 save percentage, 3.03 goals against average).
On the other side of the ice, Boston is 17-15 straight up (SU) and has lost 2.5 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 20 of its contests have gone under the total, while 11 have gone over and just one has pushed. This year, the team’s 11-3 SU as the home team.
The Bruins have converted on 25.7 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s good enough for seventh-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 23rd overall, and it’s successfully killed off 76.8 percent of all opponent power plays.
Jaroslav Halak has stopped 28.6 shots per game as the top netminder in goal for the Bruins. Halak has nine wins, nine losses, and two OT losses to his credit and has registered a .926 save percentage and 2.40 goals against average this year.
Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins Free Picks
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Bruins, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
- Over Boston’s last ten outings, five of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 1-4 in those games).
- The Sabres are 8-6 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 14-8 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
- For both of these teams, the total has gone over in three of their last five outings.
- Buffalo has averaged 13.0 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 8.9 giveaways per game (ranked 10th overall).
- Boston skaters have averaged 11.4 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 9.8 giveaways per game (ranked 17th in the league).
- The Bruins this season have recorded the 10th-most hits in the NHL (22.6 per game), but the club has averaged 26.8 over their last five home games.
