NHL Hockey Betting Free Picks: San Jose @ Buffalo
Added on Feb 13, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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With no NBA action on the sportsbooks board for Saturday we’ll look to some NHL betting opportunities as pro hockey winds down prior to their Winter Olympic break. San Jose is still playing great hockey, leading the NHL Western Conference by 6 points over Chicago and tied with Washington for the league’s overall best record. Buffalo in a horrible tailspin that has seen them plummet from the upper echelons of the Eastern Conference to 5th place.
San Jose Sharks at Buffalo Sabres
February 13, 4:05 PM Pacific
Historically, the San Jose Sharks have struggled mightily on the Buffalo Sabres home ice at the HSBC Center. The Sabres have won seven out of the last eight head to head meetings in their own building including the last meeting in February 2009. That fact is probably the only thing keeping the Sharks from being a road favorite in this spot, because every other salient component of the matchup favors San Jose. Sabres have lost six straight and 8 of 10, while San Jose has won 7 of their L10 contests and has managed to keep pace with Washington in the battle for the President’s Trophy despite the Caps recently ended 14 game winning streak. Going back even further in the schedule, Buffalo has won only 2 of their last 12 games. San Jose has a 9-3 record in their last 12 games.
Buffalo is a good home team with a 18-7-6 record but the problem here is that San Jose is one of the best road teams in the league. The Sharks play as well on the road (21-7-2) as they do at home (19-5-7). Sabres have played well against Western Conference teams this year with a 8-6 record, but the Sharks have manhandled the Eastern Conference with an 11-3 mark. Sabres still in the top 10 in goals allowed per game (7th) but they’re strictly a middling team offensively. Sharks on the other hand are #3 in the league in goals per game allowed and #2 in the league in goals per game scored. At a pick’em price we’ve got to go with San Jose who is in much better form at the moment and will want to keep pace with the Caps heading into the Olympic Break.
Bet San Jose Sharks -110 over Buffalo Sabres
