It’s a pretty busy Friday night in the NHL and there are a couple of vital games on the docket for both playoff races. Perhaps the biggest game is taking place in Sunrise, Fla., where the Florida Panthers are hosting the Buffalo Sabres.
The Panthers and Sabres are two of the seven teams fighting for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Cats are a -195 favorite over the Sabres, who played on Thursday night in Tampa Bay.
Whether they make the playoffs or not, this has been a largely successful season for the Buffalo Sabres. It’s been over a decade since Buffalo made the postseason, so getting into the spring fling would be nice, but this team was not expected to be all that competitive in 2022-23, so just getting this group to play some meaningful games in February and March is a step in the right direction.
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Adding to the excitement around this team is the fact that the Sabres generally play some exciting games. Buffalo ranks third in the NHL in goals scored per game and has the eighth-worst goals-against average, so this squad is no stranger to back-and-forth tilts.
The Panthers are of a similar DNA. Despite hiring a more defensive-minded coach in the offseason, the Cats are still posting some crooked numbers. Florida is sixth in the NHL in goals per game and has allowed the ninth-most goals per contest.
Another similarity between these teams is in goal, which isn’t a good thing. Florida and Buffalo have the same exact save percentage this season (.892), which is good enough for 25th in the NHL.
When it comes to generating scoring chances, Florida has the stronger numbers by quite a margin. The Panthers lead the NHL in expected goals created at 5-on-5 and are fifth overall in high-danger scoring chances created. The trade-off is that the Panthers rank 23rd in expected goals conceded and high-danger scoring chances surrendered.
Both of these teams have no issues trading chances and betting on themselves to come out on top in a back-and-forth tilt. And with questionable goaltending, it’s no wonder that the over is 65-46-4 (56.5%) combined when either of these teams takes the ice.
Sometimes it’s best to just keep things simple and that seems to be the case for this huge matchup on Friday night. The over is the square play, but it’s still worth a look in this one.
Over 7 goals (-107, BetRivers)