Boston Bruins vs Buffalo Sabres 1/1/22 NHL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins meet Saturday in NHL action at the TD Garden. The Buffalo Sabres need a win after losing 10 of their last 12 games. The Boston Bruins need a win after losing five of their last eight games.

The Buffalo Sabres are averaging 2.7 goals per game and are scoring on 18.2 percent of their power play opportunities. Tage Thompson leads Buffalo with 12 goals, Kyle Okposo has 14 assists and Jeff Skinner has 87 shots on goal. Defensively, the Buffalo Sabres are allowing 3.5 goals per game and are killing 79.2 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Dustin Tokarski has given up 42 goals on 433 shots faced, and Craig Anderson has given up 15 goals on 190 shots.

The Boston Bruins are averaging 2.7 goals per game and are scoring on 23.7 percent of their power play opportunities. Brad Marchand leads Boston with 11 goals, David Pastrnak has 13 assists and Patrice Bergeron has 92 shots on goal. Defensively, the Boston Bruins are allowing 2.6 goals per game and are killing 81 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Linus Ullmark has given up 30 goals on 383 shots faced, and Jeremy Swayman has allowed 32 goals on 386 shots.

The Sabres are 25-80 in their last 105 road games and 19-53 in their last 72 overall. The Bruins are 5-2 in their last 7 Saturday games and 1-5 in their last 6 home games. The under is 6-1-1 in Sabres last 8 overall. The under is 8-1 in Bruins last 9 overall. The Sabres are 0-7 in the last 7 meetings in Boston and 16-35 in the last 51 meetings.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the Boston Bruins respond to being out of action for two weeks, and an early start usually leads to sluggish play at least early. With that said, the Buffalo Sabres are absolutely dreadful, and they’ve played their worst on the road. Even at massive plus money prices, it’s hard to get behind the Sabres with confidence. For me, it’s Bruins or pass. Of course, I take the PL to shave down the ridiculous juice.