A Play For Struggling NHL Teams That Face Off Tonight

Sabers vs. Kraken, 10:00 ET

With college hoops taking a back seat for the next few days, we are going to turn our attention to the upcoming baseball season and hockey. Hockey hasn't been great for me this season, but we've been better in the last few plays. Hopefully, we can keep that momentum going and see if we can grab another unit to build our bankroll for the NCAA Tournament. Tonight we will put a play on a game between the Sabres and the Kraken. 

Buffalo is basically the definition of average. They currently sit at 32-31-5 on the season and are just 15-14-4 away from their home ice. On the season, the Sabers have allowed 2.96 goals per game and scored 2.93 goals per game. They are shooting 31 times per game which is encouraging, but they are allowing roughly 29 shots per game. They do struggle with the Power Play as they give up a goal about once every five opportunities, and they score only 17.1% of their opportunities. Buffalo has played fairly well lately, going 3-2 over their past five games, but their wins have only been at home. In their wins, they've scored a total of 14 goals, while only allowing a total of five goals. In the two losses, they've scored just three goals, and they've allowed eight goals. There doesn't seem to be a true superstar on Buffalo, but they have a solid cast of contributors. Six guys have scored 40 or more points for them this season and another is at 39 right now. They also have three players who have found the back of the net at least 20 times this season. When the team is playing its best, they are getting contributions from everyone. 

(Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)

Seattle was really good last season, but this one is a bit of a struggle. The Kraken come into this game with a 28-26-12 record on the season. They haven't been very good at home with a record of 14-14-6 - so basically average. They've scored 2.68 goals per game this season which is not going to get the job done. Their defense is actually solid with only 2.82 goals allowed per game as well. If they get an opportunity tonight in a Power Play situation, that might be their best opportunity to get their offense going. Lately, the Kraken have played very poorly, losing four straight games and all four have been at home. In three of their four games, they've scored one or fewer goals. They have allowed 14 goals total in the four games they've played as well. The Kraken don't have quite as much success as the Sabers have in terms of points. They only have three guys with 40 or more points. There are another two that have 34 and 37, respectively, but that isn't enough to get the job done. The Sabers have six players with at least 15 goals, while the Kraken only have three players with 15 goals for the season. This team is struggling offensively even when their defense plays pretty well. 

Tonight you should expect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the net for the Sabers. He is a big reason they've done as well as they have this season. He has allowed just 2.40 goals per game, good for 4th in the league. He's posted five shutouts already this year and has a .915% save percentage which is tied for 10th. Joey Daccord will be in the net for the Kraken and he also is keeping Seattle in games. He is allowing just 2.45 goals per game and has a .919 save percentage, good for third in the NHL. I don't see this being a high scoring game the way these two are playing. I'll take under 5.5 tonight. If you can find it or want to pay a little extra juice under 6 would be better, obviously. 

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