The Buffalo Sabres will be looking for their second straight victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Buffalo defeated Boston last Friday, 6-4.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this beast Division battle at TD Garden. Boston is the favorite at -417. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts the odds Buffalo at +330 as the underdog.
Buffalo lost goaltender Linus Ullmark who is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. Also, out for the Sabres is back of goaltender Carter Hutton. Boston will be without defenseman Jarred Tinordi.
Sabres Fall to Rangers
The New York Rangers scored two goals in the final period in a 3-1 victory over Buffalo. Sam Reinhart had the only goal for the Sabres, his 22nd of the season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was solid in net for Buffalo, allowing three goals on 41 shots.
Buffalo is allowing 3.42 goals per game, 28th overall, and they are 22nd in penalty killing at 78.1%. Luukkonen will be back between the pipes for his third NHL start. He is 1-1-0 with a 3.58 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
Buffalo is 28th in scoring at 2.38 goals per game and is 28th and shooting percentage at 8.4%. They are 12th on the power-play at 21.2%. Reinhart leads the team in scoring with 22 goals and 36 points. Victor Olofsson is second with 29 points.
Bruins Dominate Penguins
Boston took a 3-0 lead then held on for a 3-1 victory. Tuukka Rask stopped 25 of 26 shots and Brad Marchand scored his team-leading 26th goal of the season. David Krejci added a goal and an assist for the Bruins.
Boston is fifth in the NHL in goals allowed per game at 2.44 and is second in penalty killing at 86.1%. Rask is 12-4-2 with a 2.29 GAA and a .915 save percentage. He has allowed nine total goals in his last five appearances.
The Bruins are 16th in scoring at 2.81 goals per game and are 27th in shooting percentage at 8.6%. They are 15th on the power-play at 20.7%. Marchand easily leads the team in scoring with 58 points. David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron are second with 18 goals each.
Trends:
Buffalo:
- 7-27 in their last 34 games.
- 19-45 in their last 64 games against teams with a winning record.
Boston:
- 4-0 in their last four games.
- 7-2 in their last nine games.
The Bruins have beaten Buffalo the last five times they have hosted them in Boston and are 23-7 in the last 30 meetings overall. Buffalo did defeat Boston the last time these teams met, but Boston had won the previous meetings. Plus, Boston is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and are 14-6-3 at home this season.
Pick: Take Boston at -417.
The Total:
Neither of these teams are particularly prolific in scoring. Buffalo will be going with a third-string netminder, but the Bruins are not the kind of team that can take advantage of that. It is true that these teams scored 10 goals total the last time they met, but they have gone under in five straight meetings in Boston and have gone under in nine of the last 11 meetings. Plus, the Bruins have gone under in 19 of their last 30 games, including 13 of the last 21 at home.
Pick: Go under 5.5 at -110.