Nashville vs Buffalo: The Predators to pick up the seventh win in a row

Nashville have now failed to defeat Buffalo in five straight head-to-head meetings. Can John Hynes' team make it through to the NHL underdogs now? We predict the Predators will win comfortably this time!

Nashville, in recent years, have accustomed us to being at best a mediocre league team whose destiny is to fight for the playoffs. Still, in the regular season, the Predators are showing great results. Yes, they got off to a poor start to the season, dropping four of their five games, but they've since made tremendous progress. In their last 14 games, John Hynes's men have gone just once without a point after a 3-5 loss to Washington and another 3-4 shootout loss to Columbus, and the other 12 games have been winning only. Such a strong run allowed Nashville to break into the lead in the Western Conference standings.

Buffalo are having another disappointing regular season. It seems that the Sabres won't get out of this crisis, as all steps taken in their performance end about the same badly. The American Don Granato, who started well this season and even led the Sabres in the NHL lead, has been entrusted with saving the day but then began the usual long losing streak. They cannot win for six games in a row, having scored only two points during this interval after overtime defeats from Pittsburgh and Boston - 2:3 and 3:4, respectively. Such a poor performance leaves Buffalo in 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

In recent years, Nashville played very hard against Buffalo, but now the Predators are too good to have difficulties against the NHL outsider. The Tennessee State lead the Western Conference standings with a six-game winning streak, while the Sabres have an equally long losing streak that has taken them to the bottom of the East. Of course, the clear favorites for the upcoming confrontation are the wards of John Hynes, and to make a bet on a handicap 1 (-1.5) is possible for 1.80.

Matt Duchene is a forward in his third season with Nashville, but only now has he managed to become a true leader for the Predators. By the age of 30, the player is still getting used to the new team, where he is now the top scorer among representatives of his role. In 33 games played, the Canadian has already scored 33 points (16 goals + 17 assists). The day before, he noted a double-double in the Colorado goal, which confirms his excellent form, so the best option for the prediction seems to be Matt Duchene Total Over 0.5 points for 1.50.

Nashville have never been famous for a consistently good attack, preferring to achieve good results with the help of a reliable defense. The Predators are also quite good offensively in the current regular season, and they scored 22 goals (4.40 goals per game average) in their last five games, which confirms the excellent shape of their offense. Buffalo, meanwhile, have one of the weakest defensive lines in the league, which has managed to concede 125 pucks (3.57 average per game) in 35 games. Based on this figure, it is worth looking at a bet on Nashville's Total Over 3.5 pucks for 1.62.