Devils vs. Sabres Odds
| Devils Odds | -192 |
| Sabres Odds | +158 |
| Over/Under | 6.5 o-150 / u+122) |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| TV | MSG-B |
| Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute NHL Odds here. | |
With their playoff hopes growing fainter by the day, the Buffalo Sabres will look to snap a three-game losing streak when they host the powerhouse New Jersey Devils on Friday at KeyBank Center.
New Jersey is 1-2-2 in its past five games, but is comfortably settled into a playoff spot with home-ice advantage. The only thing left to play for is a crack at a Metropolitan Division title.
Here's the latest on both teams, and your best bet for the game.
New Jersey Devils
It's been an impressive year for the Devils. With 11 regular-season games remaining, they've already improved 35 points from last season, and will return to the playoffs for the first time in five years.
The Devils have five players on their roster who have crossed the 50-point threshold this season. And that doesn't include major trade-deadline acquisition Timo Meier, who is finding his way with his new team and has five points in his past five games.
Those five games are a difficult sample to draft information from, however. Three of those contests were against the same opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Devils went 1-1-1 in those games.
More broadly, they're 5-3-3 since the March 3 trade deadline, with an average of 2.82 goals per game — below their season average of 3.45. The power play has been cold with just one goal in the past seven games. As a result, Lindy Ruff shuffled his personnel at practice Thursday in hopes of finding a spark.
In net, Ruff has recently been splitting duties between Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid.
Buffalo Sabres
It has gotten ugly in Buffalo lately as the Sabres' defensive game has largely fallen apart. Since Feb. 28, the Sabres are 2-8-2 and have averaged 4.92 goals against per game. That number has been even worse in the past two games, with seven goals allowed in each.
In net, there's hope on the horizon in the form of Devon Levi, a 21-year-old Northeastern sophomore who signed his entry-level contract on March 17. However, he is still awaiting his visa paperwork and hasn't yet practiced with the Sabres.
More immediately, Eric Comrie is expected back this weekend from a lower-body injury that has kept him out for the past couple of weeks.
The Sabres are heading into a back-to-back set, so it' likely Friday's start will go to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. He has the best record of Buffalo's three current stoppers (15-11-4) and was perfect in 23 minutes of relief work after Craig Anderson was pulled following against Nashville on Tuesday. Luukkonen gave up 11 goals across his past two starts, but could be the best option the Sabres have available right now.
Buffalo is also expected to be without young stay-at-home defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who has missed seven of the past nine games with an upper-body injury. According to Buffalo Sabres Stats on Twitter, the Sabres are +19 in goal differential this season when Samuelsson is in the lineup, and -31 without him.
Devils vs. Sabres Pick
These are two high-scoring teams, but the Devils prevailed in a quiet 3-1 affair in their only previous meeting this season, back on Nov. 25th in Buffalo.
If the Samuelsson effect is real, the Sabres may end up giving up more on Friday night — even if it isn't a third-straight seven-spot. And while the Devils haven't been at the top of their game lately, they should have enough tools at their disposal to lock in another multi-goal win in Buffalo.
With limited value on the moneyline, look at the puck line for a nice potential payout.
Pick: Devils -1.5 (+130) | Play to +115 |
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