The Pittsburgh Penguins are NHL live betting favorites against the Buffalo Sabres, but the question is, will Sidney Crosby finally score again? The center is one game short of tying his longest dry spell, which stretched for 12 tortuous games from November 23rd, 2011, to March 22nd, 2012. The closest Crosby has come to scoring a goal in the last 11 games was beating Predators goalie Pekka Rinne in the second round of a shootout which they lost 5-4 to Nashville on Saturday.
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- Date: Tuesday, 14th November
- Time: 7:05 PM
- Venue: PPG Paints Arena
- Sportsbook NHL Hockey Betting Lines:
Sabres +1½ (-155) 5½ (-110) +175
Penguins -1½ (+135) 5½ (-110) -210
Skating all the way back home
The game against the Sabres will kick-off a period during which the Pens will play 13 of 19 games at home, having previously 3 of their first 19 games being played away from PPG Paints Arena. Pittsburgh is 5–0–1 at home (they are, that is, undefeated) and 4–7–2 on the road this season. “On the road, I think there’s [sic] a lot of things that come into play, with scheduling,” Coach Mike Sullivan said. “Our players have a certain comfort level playing at home, we’re so fortunate to have the fan base and fan support that we have, and in a lot of instances I think it gives our team a big boost. There’s a certain mindset that we have when we’re at home, that we have to find a way to travel with it, and I think if we do that we’ll have more success on the road.” The Pens have struggled recently, losing six of the last eight. Pittsburgh forwards, excepting Phil Kassel and Evgeni Malkin, have had trouble finding the net – so it’s not just Crosby – which helps explain why the NHL live betting total has gone under in the Pens’ last four games playing on two days’ rest.
Sabres haven’t quite savored the taste of scoring
The Pens aren’t the only ones experiencing difficulty putting pucks in nets. Buffalo has scored just one goal five times in their last eight games, including a 1-2 overtime loss to Montreal on Saturday, and ranks 29th in the league in goals per game (2.35). “Scoring goals has been an issue,” Sabres center Ryan O’Reilly said. “I had a lucky break on the power play but other than that I didn’t generate nearly enough offensively. A lot of guys did good things and played hard. But when it comes down to it, the guys who play the most minutes have to put the puck in the net.” Additionally, the Sabres have not, historically, fared well against the Pens, going 7-20-2 in their last 29 trips to Pittsburgh and 15-36-3 in the last 54 encounters between the two teams. The NHL live betting total has gone under in three of Buffalos four games, and over in four of their last five when their opponent allows five or more goals in their previous game.