Liontips
Boston vs. Buffalo: NHL Match Prediction
Boston will play a home game against Buffalo on December 22. The Bruins have looked clearly better than their counterparts lately, while the Blades are currently on a losing streak and are still looking for the kind of game that used to bring them results. The previous game between the clubs ended in favor of the home team. Does it make sense to bet on their success this time? Find the answer in our forecast
Command Analysis
Boston Bruins
USACurrent form
Boston is definitely not as successful this season as it was last year, but it should not be underestimated in any way. The team has big goals for this year and decided to change the head coach to achieve them. Incidentally, after Jim Montgomery resigned, things really started to go uphill for them. Not long ago, they found themselves in the playoff zone, and now they are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of competitors outside the top eight. In December, the Bruins suffered only two defeats.
So, after the disastrous matches against Winnipeg (1:8) and Seattle (1:5), they pulled themselves together and crushed Vancouver (5:1) on the road, and then dealt with Calgary in the fight with a score of 4:3 in overtime. True, in the last match with Edmonton, the club lost with a score of 2:3 (OT), although they had a comfortable advantage of two goals during the match, but they had unsuccessfully played both the second and third game segments, in which they remained goalless.
Let us emphasize that, in general, the efficiency of Joe Sacco team has improved, and it has begun to score at least three goals, even when playing away. However, it scores most of its goals in equal numbers, since it does not use the numerical advantage very well, to put it mildly. Today, Boston occupies the penultimate line in the league in terms of the game in 5x4 and 5x3 formats and has only 12.9% of the implementation. Shortcomings in this aspect of the game greatly hinder the Bruins in matches with the leaders.
Disqualifications and injuries
Hampus Lindholm will not play in the upcoming match due to injury.
Interesting trends for betting
- Boston has a 22-35 goal-to-goal ratio in the third period.
The Bruins have a weak third period and often lose in it.
- Boston makes 27 hits per game
The "Bears" act quite harshly towards their opponents and use force at every opportunity
Buffalo Sabres
USACurrent form
Buffalo continues to show poor results, and the losing streak continues to grow. Even the club head coach cannot find a solution to the problem, who shrugs at press conferences and says that he does not know what the difficulty is. Let us emphasize that earlier the "blades" played a series of away games, which they started away to Washington and could not cope with one of the main leaders of the East (2:4). After that, the "sabres" fought with Toronto and at one point even had a comfortable advantage of two goals, but due to weak defense they again allowed the opponent to recoup and bring the matter to a victorious end. Incidentally, it is due to poor defense that the team is losing most of its points this season.
The Blades had a great opportunity to break their losing streak, as they went to visit one of the league main outsiders, Montreal, but they did not take advantage of the chance, and in the end, everything ended in complete failure. Buffalo, in general, is having a very disastrous second twenty minutes, in which they currently have a ratio of 28:44 in goals scored and goals conceded. Due to this decline, Lindy Ruff team has already found itself in the last line of the Eastern Conference standings and has only 26 points to its credit.
Disqualifications and injuries
Buffalo doesn't have any major roster problems. Only Dahlin and Greenway are in the infirmary, and Lafferty is still questionable.
Interesting trends for betting
- On average, Buffalo concedes at least three goals per game.
The team continues to show weak defensive play
- The Sabres are statistically receiving 11 penalty minutes per game.
The team is not known for its good discipline and remains one of the worst in the league in this regard.
Trends
Bet 1st period: total over 1.5 goals
In three out of five matches between the clubs, the first period was productive
1.80Bet 2nd period: home team win
In the last two matches, the visitors lost in the second period
2.30Tip and bets
We think that Boston will be able to earn two points in the upcoming confrontation. The team has looked much better than its counterpart recently and was even close to winning against Edmonton the day before. Buffalo continues to lose match after match and it is completely unclear when it will be able to recover. All other things being equal, the hosts look preferable to their counterpart. Previous matches between the teams also often went in favor of the Bears.
Prediction - Boston win for 1.95
Bet on individual total
In previous meetings, Buffalo showed mediocre efficiency. Boston usually adheres to a closed style of play and does not play particularly effectively. Even in the last confrontation with Edmonton, Joe Sacco team was left with only two missed pucks. By the way, in the last three games out of five against the Sabres, the Bears conceded less than three times.
We bet on Buffalo individual total under 2.5 goals for 1.85
Total Bet
Previous meetings between the clubs were ineffective and usually ended with no more than five or six goals scored. Boston, after returning to their home rink, will definitely not take too many risks and will try to play as reliably as possible in defense. Buffalo, being on a long losing streak, is also unlikely to play open hockey.
We take the total under six goals for 1.75
Upcoming matches
Read more
Tips from experts
Today tips
Betting predictions stat
