The Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs meet Monday in NHL action at the Scotiabank Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Buffalo Sabres are averaging 3.7 goals per game and are scoring on 24.9 percent of their power play opportunities. Tage Thompson leads Buffalo with 42 goals, Rasmus Dahlin has 49 assists and Jeff Skinner has 182 shots on goal. Defensively, the Buffalo Sabres are allowing 3.6 goals per game and are killing 72.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has given up 97 goals on 911 shots faced, and Craig Anderson has given up 59 goals on 720 shots.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are averaging 3.4 goals per game and are scoring on 25.4 percent of their power play opportunities. William Nylander leads Toronto with 34 goals, Mitchell Marner has 59 assists and Auston Matthews has 244 shots on goal. Defensively, the Toronto Maple Leafs are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 81.2 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Matt Murray has given up 58 goals on 611 shots faced, and Ilya Samsonov has allowed 78 goals on 917 shots.
The Sabres are 16-7 in their last 23 road games and 0-4 in their last 4 overall. The Maple Leafs are 55-20 in their last 75 home games and 6-2 in their last 8 overall. The under is 5-1 in Sabres last 6 Monday games. The over is 5-2-1 in Maple Leafs last 8 home games. The Sabres are 7-20 in the last 27 meetings in Toronto. The home team is 36-15 in the last 51 meetings.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team I’ve backed a lot this season and keep hyping up, and they should be favored at home. However, we’re getting almost two times our money with the Sabres, a team that’s done a lot of its best wok on the road. The Sabres aren’t playing well, but they thrive in this spot. I’ll take a shot in the dark.