Canadiens & Sabres Meet in Friday Night NHL Betting

Posted by Aaron . on October 23, 2015 in

What a team does in October does not necessarily dictate what they will do in the latter part of the season when the playoffs are on the line. That said, the early part of the season are when teams can quickly establish an identity and show others that they should be feared. No team is doing a better job of that right now than the Montreal Canadiens, and they will try to keep that going when they head to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Friday.
Date/Time: Friday, October 23rd, 7:00 PM
Location: First Niagara Center, Buffalo, New York
NHL Betting Odds: Canadiens -155
We all knew coming in that Carey Price was going to be the man to carry this Canadiens (7-0-0) team on his shoulders, but I don’t think anyone realized just how strong he would be. Price has started 6 of the 7 games that Montreal has played so far, and is the owner of a sparkling 1.00 GAA. In fairness, he has also been getting a ton of help from a defense that is quickly looking like the best in the league. It also helps that Montreal have been scoring regularly, with their 3.3 goals per game average being the 6th best in the NHL.
Montreal Canadiens
Max Pacioretty is off to a great start, and has 5G and 2A to lead the way in scoring for Montreal. As you may have already guessed given their defensive stats, the Canadiens are top 3 in the penalty kill standings, and the only area where they are really struggling at the moment is in the PP. They don’t really need it right now, but they will still want to improve with the extra man for those nights when they are having trouble scoring 5 on 5.
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres (2-4-0) may not have a lot of points on the board right now, but their results are showing that they are not an easy team to knock off. Their last 3 games have all been decided by a single goal, but unfortunately, they have only come out on the winning side of things on one of those occasions.

Betting Odds Trends

Montreal Canadiens
  • Montreal is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
  • Montreal is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
  • Montreal is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing Buffalo
  • The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Montreal’s last 6 games when playing Buffalo
  • Montreal is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Buffalo
Buffalo Sabres
  • Buffalo is 6-19 SU in its last 25 games
  • The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo’s last 7 games
  • Buffalo is 6-19 SU in its last 25 games at home
  • Buffalo is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing Montreal
  • The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Buffalo’s last 6 games when playing Montreal
  • Buffalo is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Montreal
  • The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Buffalo’s last 5 games when playing at home against Montreal
This is a team that has to play a stifling brand of hickey, as they don’t really have the quality on offense to put their opponents to the sword. Where the Sabres have been pretty effective is with the extra man, as their PP unit is currently rolling along at 23.8%. If they can stay tight in defense and take advantage of their power play opportunities, they are going to continue to be in close games night after night.
Considering how bad the Sabres were last year, it may come as a surprise to learn that they took 3 of 4 from Montreal last season. This is a brand new year, though, and the Canadiens are red hot right now. I like Montreal to win in a low-scoring game.