Buffalo Sabres at Washington Capitals - 4/15/21 NHL Picks and Prediction
Photo by Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals (28-11-4) vs Buffalo Sabres (10-25-7)
Game Info: Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 7:00 pm (Capital One Arena)
Betting Odds: Washington Capitals -450 / Buffalo Sabres +333 --- Over/Under: 6.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals meet Thursday in NHL action at the Capital One Arena.
The Buffalo Sabres look for a win after splitting their last eight games. The Buffalo Sabres are averaging 2.3 goals per game and are scoring on 21.6 percent of their power play opportunities. Sam Reinhart leads Buffalo with 14 goals, Taylor Hall has 17 assists and Victor Olofsson has 96 shots on goal. Defensively, the Buffalo Sabres are allowing 3.4 goals per game and are killing 77.6 percent of their opponents power plays. Carter Hutton has given up 39 goals on 341 shots faced and Linus Ullmark has given up 49 goals on 591 shots.
The Washington Capitals look for a win after winning eight of their last 12 games. The Washington Capitals are averaging 3.5 goals per game and are scoring on 27.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Alex Ovechkin leads Washington with 22 goals, Nicklas Backstrom has 30 assists and John Carlson has 108 shots on goal. Defensively, the Washington Capitals are allowing 2.9 goals per game and are killing 83.1 percent of their opponents power plays. Ilya Samsonov has given up 40 goals on 398 shots faced and Vitek Vanecek has allowed 72 goals on 830 shots.
The Sabres are 20-63 in their last 83 road games and 13-39 in their last 52 overall. The Capitals are 8-2 in their last 10 home games and 20-7 in their last 27 overall. The over is 4-1 in Sabres last 5 overall. The over is 4-0 in Capitals last 4 overall. The Sabres are 4-17 in the last 21 meetings in Washington and 8-22 in the last 30 meetings. The road team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings. The favorite is 39-17 in the last 56 meetings.
The Buffalo Sabres have shown signs of life over the last two weeks, but it's simply not enough to trust them in spots like this. The Sabres have been fade material all season long, the last profitable team in the sport and a win here and ther doesn't move the needle all that much. The Washington Capitals rarely lose these sort of games against lesser teams, and they've actually won six of the seven meetings against the Sabres this season. The only option here for me is to side with the Capitals and the PL for max betting value.
Randy’s Pick Washington Capitals -1.5
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Mitch's Take...
