NHL Pick: Buffalo Sabres at Anaheim Ducks

Overview

The Buffalo Sabres head out to sunny California Wednesday when they take on the Anaheim Ducks. These two teams already met once this season with the Ducks winning 5-1 in Buffalo and last season they met twice with Anaheim winning both those games as well.

Head to Head Trends

Sabres are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings.
Sabres are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings in Anaheim.

Anaheim Ducks (-325)

The Anaheim Ducks finished 1st in the Western Conference last season with 116 points. They were the second highest scoring team in the league scoring 266 goals just 1 behind the Blackhawks who had 267. So far this season the Ducks are looking very good winning 5 of their first 6 games with their only loss coming in their first game at Pittsburgh versus the Penguins. The Ducks are averaging 3.33 goals per game on offense and allowing just 2.17 goals per game on defense so just like last season they play well on both sides of the puck. On special teams the Ducks are 25% on the power play and 85% on the penalty kill so that’s ok but there’s defiantly room for improvement considering they’re one of the top 5 teams in the league.

Anaheim Ducks Trends

Ducks are 48-23 in their last 71 overall.
Ducks are 36-16 in their last 52 home games.
Ducks are 6-1 in their last 7 games playing on 2 days rest.

Buffalo Sabres (+285)

The Buffalo Sabres finished dead last in the entire NHL last season with just 52 points which was 14 points lower then the next worst team . They were pretty bad everywhere last season but especially on the road where they won just 8 games all season long. So far this season it looks like the Sabres are just as bad or maybe even worse then they were last season if that’s even possible. The Sabres are 1-5 with their only win coming in a shootout versus the Carolina Hurricanes who are not as bad as the Sabres but they’re pretty darn bad. The Sabres are averaging 1.17 goals per game on offense and allowing 3.67 goals per game on defense so if they don’t get better fast they’ll be lucky to win more then a handful of games all season.

Buffalo Sabres Trends

Sabres are 14-42 in their last 56 road games.
Sabres are 7-23 in their last 30 vs. Western Conference.

Conclusion

I know the Ducks are a super huge favorite in this one but the Sabres are just so bad I just don’t see how they can even come close to winning on the road against a top team like the Anaheim Ducks. If you don’t want to lay that much juice you can take them on the puck line -1.5 -120.

Free Pick: Anaheim Ducks -325