New York Islanders at Buffalo Sabres Free Pick 11/2/19

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A pair of teams that have started the season off strongly, the New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres take the ice at the KeyBank Center. This Eastern Conference matchup gets underway at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 2, and it’s being televised live on MSG Western New York.

New York Islanders vs. Buffalo Sabres Odds

New York (-105) is playing the role of underdog to Buffalo (-115) and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals. If gamblers want to play the game’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -110 money on the over and -110 on the under.

The Sabres are 9-5 straight-up (SU) and have earned moneyline bettors 6.2 units this season. That winning percentage, the league’s fifth-strongest so far this season, is a huge turnaround from how the team performed during the 2018-19 season (33-49). Through 14 regular season contests, seven of its games have gone over the total, while six have gone under and none have pushed. The team is 5-1 SU at home so far this year.

Buffalo has been able to convert on 28.0 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a mark that places them in the top-5 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 18th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.0 percent of all penalties.

Buffalo, as a collective unit, has been called for penalties just 3.2 times per game this season. Last year, it posted the second-lowest mark in the league with 3.1 penalties per game. After serving an average of 7.0 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has had to stave off opponent power plays for 6.4 minutes per outing this year.

Sporting a .926 save percentage and 28.3 saves per game, Carter Hutton (6-2-1) has been the best goalkeeper for the Sabres this season. If they, however, choose to give him a breather, the team might turn to Linus Ullmark (3-3-3 record, .915 save percentage, 3.12 goals against average).

Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart will both look to continue their strong seasons for the Sabres. Eichel (17 points) has tallied seven goals and 10 assists and has recorded multiple points in five different games this year. Reinhart has five goals and six assists to his name and has notched at least one point in nine contests.

On the other bench, New York is 9-3 straight up (SU) and has earned 4.5 units for moneyline bettors this season. A total of six of its games have gone under the total, while five have gone over and none have pushed. As an away team so far, New York is 3-1 SU.

New York has converted on 25.0 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a mark that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 12th overall and it’s successfully killed off 82.4 percent of all opponent power plays.

New York’s skaters have been called for penalties 3.5 times per game this season, a number that is fairly close to the 3.3 penalties per game given up a year ago. After serving an average of 7.8 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to kill penalties for 8.8 minutes per matchup this season.

Thomas Greiss (27.9 saves per game) has been the primary option in the net for New York. Greiss has five wins and two losses to his credit, and has registered a .933 save percentage and 2.15 goals against average this year.

Mathew Barzal (six goals, five assists) and Josh Bailey (five goals, six assists) are the top offensive options for New York and will lead the attack for the visiting Islanders.

New York Islanders vs. Buffalo Sabres Free Picks

Prediction: SU Winner – Sabres, O/U – Over

Betting Trends

  • For both of these teams, the total has gone over in three of their past five games.
  • The Islanders are 8-2 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Sabres are 1-0 SU when they serve more minutes than the opposition.
  • New York has scored 3.8 goals per game (while giving up just 2.0) over their eight-game winning streak.