NHL Hockey
2011-11-18 - Buffalo Sabres at Carolina Hurricanes
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Ice Hockey : North America : NHL
Friday, November 18th, 2011, 7:00PM US
(12:00AM GMT)
PREVIEW
When Ryan Miller got knocked out in that game against Boston I held off betting Buffalo as I thought they might suffer. Not so, as the Sabres did their best to make it up to their teammate but against New Jersey they were found out and lost 5-3.
I was really encouraged by the 3 goals Buffalo scored on a very good Devils defence. If you look at the numbers, Buffalo are one of the best offences in the league, scoring close to 3 a game.
The offence Buffalo bring here poses a mismatch, because Carolina's defence is not all that. The Hurricanes are surrendering 3.5 goals per game, and if you look at their recent games, they have given up close to 4.5 per game through their last 7 matches, losing 6 of them. Cam Ward gave up 4 goals to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, meaning he has gone 7 games giving up at least 3 goals each. Dire.
Buffalo are 11-7-0 and Carolina are 6-10-3. This is a revenge match as Carolina did manage to beat the Sabres in Buffalo a month ago. That ended 4-3 to the Hurricanes but I really doubt they will come out victorious here.
Keep an eye out for Vanek, who leads the Sabres in goals scored and points. I pointed out that in the absence of Miller, Jhonas Enroth is playing between the pipes. He might have lost against New Jersey, but he actually came into that match on a 13-0-1 run, including 9 straight wins. I'm not going to dwell too much on that last match as I expect it to encourage an even better performance out of Enroth.
BETTING VERDICT
Buffalo have too much firepower for this Carolina defence. I say they win in regulation by more than 1 goal.
The Pick :
Buffalo Sabres
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Buffalo Sabres -0.5 (regulation) @ 2.39 (Pinnacle)
