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Sabres vs Flames NHL Betting Lines & Game Analysis

Sabres vs Flames NHL Betting Lines & Game Analysis

Written by on January 16, 2019

NHL Betting News

The Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames show no signs of slowing down as they bring a five-game winning streak into Wednesday’s game vs. Buffalo Sabres making their only visit of the season. Calgary is a big NHL betting favorite.

How to Bet Sabres vs Flames NHL Betting Lines & Game Info

Season Series

Flames lead 1-0, winning 2-1 in OT on Oct. 30. Johnny Gaudreau scored 2:40 into overtime. After Matthew Tkachuk scored with 55.3 seconds in the third period, Gaudreau and Mark Giordano completed a give-and-go that left Gaudreau alone with an open net. Carter Hutton made 36 saves in the loss. Jack Eichel put the Sabres on the board first with a power-play goal with 3:30 left in the first period. David Rittich made 28 saves for the Flames.

The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Flames; 2-7-1 on the road. This is the 109th game all-time between Buffalo and Calgary/Atlanta; Buffalo has a 52-37-19 series record. The Sabres are 19-23-12 on the road against the Flames all-time.

Why Bet on Buffalo?

The Sabres lost their third straight game Monday, 7-2 in Edmonton. “It seems like our mistakes right now, every single one ends up in our net,” Buffalo captain Jack Eichel said. “You know you’re going to make mistakes over the course of the game and the magnitude of the mistakes are probably too big.”

Rookie No. 1 overall pick Rasmus Dahlin had an assist in 22:46 of ice-time. He has four goals and 25 points in 46 games this season. Dahlin enters this game on a four-game point streak (0+5), tying his previous career-best streak set in November. During his current streak, Dahlin has a plus-2 rating and has averaged 22:14 of ice time and 3.75 shots per game.

Casey Mittelstadt scored a goal. Mittelstadt opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season just 1:00 minute into the first period. The rookie forward has 13 points in 46 games this season. Evan Rodrigues also found the back of the net. Rodrigues got his first goal in 14 games at the 8:57 mark of the first period, which cut Edmonton’s lead to 3-2. Carter Hutton allowed five goals on just 12 shots. Hutton’s night was over early. Hutton is now .500 on the season (14-14-3) with a 2.75 GAA and a .912 save percentage.

Buffalo needs a win to avoid the first series sweep by either team since Calgary won both matchups in the 2013-14 season. Rasmus Ristolainen has totaled seven points (4+3) in seven games against the Flames since the beginning of the 2015-16 season, including five points (3+2) in three road games. Jeff Skinner has posted nine points (3+6) in his last eight matchups with the Flames, including five points (2+3) in his last three visits to Calgary. Kyle Okposo has recorded eight points (2+6) in his last nine games against the Flames. Eichel has scored in each of his last three meetings with Calgary.

Team Stats

Offense
  • Goals: 2.89
  • Shots: 32.41
  • PP/PK Percentage: 17.61

Defense

  • Goals: 2.98
  • Shots: 32.85
  • PP/PK Percentage: 16.92

Why Bet on Calgary?

The Flames crushed Arizona 7-1 on Sunday for their fifth straight win. Captain Mark Giordano had two goals and an assist. Giordano has 47 points (nine goals, 38 assists) in 45 games this season, second among NHL defensemen and five points behind San Jose’s Brent Burns.

Giordano was named the No. 1 star in the league last week. Giordano paced the NHL with 3-5-8 in four games to power the Western Conference-leading Flames (30-13-4, 64 points) to a perfect week. Giordano capped the week by playing in his 800th NHL game, celebrating with his sixth career multi-goal performance in the win over Arizona. Giordano, who was +7 for the week, also tops all players with a +36 rating in 2018-19.

Sabres vs Flames should be an easy victory for Calgary.

Matthew Tkachuk scored a pair of goals Sunday. He has 23 goals and 54 points in 47 games and has set a personal record in points while being only one goal off a career best. Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist Sunday and moved into second place in NHL scoring with 69 points. Gaudreau passed Mikko Rantanen and trails only Nikita Kucherov who has 75 points this season. Gaudreau has 27 goals and has an eight-game points streak in which he has eight goals and 18 points.

Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist Sunday. Monahan has 25 goals and 57 points which place him 10th in NHL scoring. The center is closing in on his career best in points as he had 64 last season in 74 games. Monahan has four goals and 17 points in his last 10 games.

Mike Smith allowed one goal on 23 shots. He lost out on his third shutout of the season when Jordan Oesterle beat him on a power play with 16 seconds left in the second period. The 36-year-old Smith has lost the starting gig in Calgary to David Rittich and is 13-9-1 with a 3.00 goals-against-average and a .889 save percentage. Not clear if it will be Smith or Rittich here. Rittich allowed three goals on 27 shots in a 4-3 victory against the Panthers on Friday in his last outing.

Team Stats

Offense
  • Goals: 3.68
  • Shots: 31.79
  • PP/PK Percentage: 21.74

Defense

  • Goals: 2.83
  • Shots: 28.74
  • PP/PK Percentage: 22.22

Sabres vs Flames NHL Betting Trends

  • Home team is 20-7-1 in the last 28 meetings
  • Over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings
  • Buffalo is 13-2 ATS in its last 15 games on the road
  • Buffalo is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games on the road
  • The total has gone OVER in 5 of Buffalo’s last 6 games
  • Calgary is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games
  • Calgary is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 7 of Calgary’s last 8 games

Expert NHL Betting Prediction for Sabres vs Flames

Buffalo Sabres 3 – Calgary Flames 5

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