NHL Hockey Betting: Ottawa Senators at Buffalo Sabres

The Ottawa Senators might still be technically alive for a playoff spot but realistically they’re just playing out the string. They’ve been treading water over the past couple of weeks (4-4-2 L10) and now they face a tough matchup against a Buffalo Sabres team that is at least exerting an effort down the stretch. The Sabres are just 4-3-3 in their last ten but they’ve been competing on most nights. Jack Eichel is playing his best hockey of his rookie year and has already given notice that he’s going to be an offense force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Even though Ottawa is technically still in playoff contention they’re not a strong probability to get there. The biggest problem is their defense, or more appropriately lack thereof. The Senators’ goaltending has been a train wreck all season. They’re currently #27 in goals against per game leading only Calgary, Columbus and Arizona. They’re one of only four teams allowing more than three goals per game. They score a good amount of goals (#4 in the NHL) but are lottery team bad in every other statistical category. In addition to their #27 goals against per game they’ve got the #25 ranked power play and #29 ranked penalty kill.

Buffalo is very quietly becoming a capable hockey team. Connor McDavid may have more hype than Jack Eichel–and rightfully so, since he’s the most talented young hockey player I’ve seen in my life–but the Sabres’ rookie phenom is becoming a very dangerous scoring threat. Statistically, the Sabres don’t score a lot of goals but have become much more potent over the past month. In every other statistical category they’re mediocre but to go from doormat to mediocre is a pretty substantial improvement.

The Senators have won 3 of the last 5 in Buffalo but they haven’t played on the Sabres’ home ice since the first week of the season. Things have changed dramatically and Buffalo is a downright dangerous young team. They might be a year or two away from a playoff spot but Jack Eichel is playing with a ‘chip on his shoulder’ now and he’d no doubt love to pad his points total against the Senators’ porous defense.

BET BUFFALO SABRES -115 OVER OTTAWA SENATORS