Buffalo Sabres vs Colorado Avalanche 12/1/22 NHL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Colorado Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres meet Thursday in NHL action at the KeyBank Center. The Colorado Avalanche have won 6 of their last 9 games. The Buffalo Sabres have lost 6 of their last 9 games.

The Colorado Avalanche are averaging 3.5 goals per game and are scoring on 33.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Mikko Rantanen leads Colorado with 13 goals, Nathan MacKinnon has 22 assists and Cale Maker has 55 shots on goal. Defensively, the Colorado Avalanche are allowing 2.5 goals per game and are killing 77.6 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Alexandar Georgiev has allowed 35 goals on 474 shots faced, and Pavel Francouz has given up 16 goals on 186 shots.

The Buffalo Sabres are averaging 3.6 goals per game and are scoring on 25.9 percent of their power play opportunities. Tage Thompson leads Buffalo with 13 goals, Rasmus Dahlin has 15 assists and Jeff Skinner has 63 shots on goal. Defensively, the Buffalo Sabres are allowing 3.5 goals per game and are killing 73.1 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Eric Comrie has given up 38 goals on 336 shots faced, and Craig Anderson has given up 23 goals on 276 shots.

The Avalanche are 35-16 in their last 51 road games and 80-32 in their last 112 overall. The Sabres are 50-117 in their last 167 games playing on 0 days rest and 2-10 in their last 12 overall. The under is 7-1 in Avalanche last 8 overall. The over is 4-1 in Sabres last 5 overall. The Avalanche are 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Buffalo and 20-6 in the last 26 meetings. The favorite is 14-3 in the last 17 meetings.

The Buffalo Sabres continue to have issues stringing wins together, and they don’t have success on the end of back to backs. The Colorado Avalanche are playing some of their best hockey of the season and their defense has really settled in. The Avs have also treated the Sabres like a punching bag over the years. With the rest advantage, give me the Avalanche and the PL for max betting value.