The Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers meet Saturday in NHL action at the Wells Fargo Center. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Buffalo Sabres are averaging 3.6 goals per game and are scoring on 24.3 percent of their power play opportunities. Tage Thompson leads Buffalo with 44 goals, Rasmus Dahlin has 51 assists and Jeff Skinner has 204 shots on goal. Defensively, the Buffalo Sabres are allowing 3.7 goals per game and are killing 72.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has given up 112 goals on 1,012 shots faced, and Craig Anderson has given up 73 goals on 790 shots.
The Philadelphia Flyers are averaging 2.7 goals per game and are scoring on 16.3 percent of their power play opportunities. Travis Konecny leads Philadelphia with 27 goals, Kevin Hayes has 36 assists and Owen Tippett has 197 shots on goal. Defensively, the Philadelphia Flyers are allowing 3.3 goals per game and are killing 74.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Carter Hart has allowed 145 goals on 1,586 shots faced, and Felix Sandstrom has given up 53 goals on 471 shots.
The Sabres are 8-3 in their last 11 Saturday games and 3-9 in their last 12 overall. The Flyers are 4-0 in their last 4 home games and 46-96 in their last 142 overall. The over is 5-1-2 in Sabres last 8 overall. The over is 6-2 in Flyers last 8 overall. The Sabres are 5-16 in the last 21 meetings in Philadelphia and 5-2 in the last 7 meetings. The underdog is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
The Philadelphia Flyers have had some recent success on their home ice, but they can’t be trusted given the larger sample size, especially against above average teams. The Buffalo Sabres are kind of due for a breakout victory, and they need all they can get to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The Sabres are the team still playing for something. I’ll lay the small juice.