NHL Hockey Free Pick: Philadelphia Flyers vs Buffalo Sabres
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Team records:
Philadelphia: 33-26-3
Buffalo: 33-20-9
Tonight, 7:05 p.m. ET
Sportsbook odds: Flyers +105, Sabres -125
The Philadelphia Flyers travel to Buffalo on Friday night to take on the struggling Buffalo Sabres in what is a marquee Eastern Conference matchup. The Flyers are currently in sixth place in the Conference while the Sabres are comfortably in fifth.
Philadelphia was playing some pretty good hockey before the Olympic break and posted a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first game back, only to lose against the weak Florida Panthers 7-4 the very next night. The Flyers return to legitimacy has coincided with the strong play of the Studs on the roster. Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Daniel Briere have stepped up their game recently and the Flyers have significantly improved because of their stellar play.
The Flyers were curiously quiet at the trade deadline and their need for a goaltender was not realized. It appears to be the same old story in Phili – good team with questionable goaltending. Still, Michael Leighton is playing well enough for the Flyers to make them a playoff team, but as in years past, their situation in goal threatens to cause an early exit for Philadelphia in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs. With Thomas Vokoun, Dwayne Roloson and Tim Thomas available for trades, it is a shame that the Flyers were not able to pull something off.
With the questionable goaltending situation in Phili., the scorers are going to have to take their games to yet another level. They are going to have to score a lot in order to be successful and should do so. It is when the scoring stalls that the Flyers will stumble and with their upcoming game against Ryan Miller and the Sabres on tap, goals will be hard to come by. Expect the Flyers to have a difficult time against Ryan Miller and to lose their second of three straight road games on Friday night.
The Buffalo Sabres have fallen on hard times lately, going 2-6-2 in their last 10 games. They are only 1-8 in their last 9 games and have had a difficult time scoring during that span. Efforts to obtain another goal scorer were unsuccessful at the trade deadline and it could haunt this team going forward. 
Thomas Vanek has had a disappointing year so far by his standards and in order for the Sabres to be successful, he is going to have to find his scoring touch once again. Derek Roy has been playing better but outside of that, the Sabres have no real scoring threat. They have lost two straight games against the likes of Pittsburgh and Washington proving that they are not quite in the first tier of NHL teams at the moment. That said, they do have the best goalie in the world – look what New Jersey has done the last decade or so with a strong goaltender and a questionable offensive squad.
Friday’s game is an important one for both teams. The Flyers could inch up further in the Eastern Conference standings while the Sabres could gain a bit of much needed confidence. Ryan Miller will be the story in this game and the Sabres should win their first post-Olympic game on Friday night.
NHL Betting Trends:
Buffalo is 14-5-1 SU in its last 20 games when playing at home against Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Buffalo’s last 6 games
Philadelphia is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Philadelphia is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Buffalo
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Philadelphia’s last 16 games when playing Buffalo
Philadelphia is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Buffalo
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Buffalo’s last 16 games when playing Philadelphia
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Buffalo’s last 7 games when playing at home against Philadelphia
Pick: Buffalo Sabres -120
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