Chicago Blackhawks vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction, Odds and Picks for Friday, 12/27/24

The NHL’s Friday slate features a matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Buffalo Sabres. The Blackhawks look to snap their two game losing skid while the Sabres look to finally build some momentum and string two wins together.

The Blackhawks have not been very good this year, with a record of 12-21-2. They struggle to score goals, coming in at 28th in the NHL with 2.57 a game. They struggle to put pucks on net, ranking 30th in the league, which is most likely a direct correlation to why they cannot score either. Their only bright spot is their power play, converting 22.5% of the time. Their faceoff percentage is horrible, second worst in the league. It is hard to score goals when you can never get possession of the puck, and then when you do have it, you cannot get shots through to the net. The Blackhawks also have the 3rd best penalty kill in the league, which is always nice as well.

The Sabres are not far off the Blackhawks, with a record of 12-19-4. They are bad at home as well, coming in at 6-10-3. They are in the bottom half of the league in goals scored, shots on goal, power play percentage, faceoff percentage, goals allowed, shots on goals allowed, penalty kill, and penalty minutes. In essence, there is no one bright spot on this team that they can rely on. They commit 10.6 penalty minutes a game, and have the third worst power play in the NHL.

This is seemingly a perfect matchup for the Blackhawks, as their strengths are the weaknesses of the Sabres, meanwhile the weaknesses of the Blackhawks are not the strengths of the Sabres. I think the Blackhawks get a rare win in this one.

Chicago Blackhawks vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction: Chicago Blackhawks ML (+140). Playable at that number.