Buffalo Sabres vs Boston Bruins NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 10/22/2021

The Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres meet in NHL action from the KeyBank Center on Friday night.

The Boston Bruins will look to bounce back from a 6-3 loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers last time out. The Flyers took the lead just after the eight minute mark of the opening period but Karson Kuhlman tied the game at one with just over three minutes to go in the 1^st for Boston. Philadelphia restored the lead in the final seconds of the first and pushed the lead to 3-1 in the first two minutes of the second period. Taylor Hall would pull one back for the Bruins less than seven minutes later and Brad Marchand tied the game at three with one minute to go in the middle frame. But Philadelphia would take the lead back in the first minute of the third and add an insurance tally with just under nine minutes to go before icing the win with an empty-netter and securing the 6-3 win, sending Boston back empty-handed. Jeremy Swayman took the loss, falling to 1-1 after allowing 5 goals on 24 shots faced in the losing effort.

The Buffalo Sabres will be out to add to their 4-0 start after a 5-2 win over the Canucks in their last game. Vancouver opened the scoring just under seven minutes into the game but Kyle Okposo would tie the game at one just 1:25 later. Vancouver restored their lead by the end of the 1^st period, but Zemgus Girgensons helped the Sabres answer the bell again, giving us a 2-2 game heading into the 3^rd. Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson broke the game open with a pair of early 3^rd period goals :25 apart to make it a 4-2 game and despite both sides having 16 shots on goal in the 3^rd, the Sabres would hold strong and ice the win with a Rasmus Aspland empty net goal to make it a 5-2 final. Craig Anderson got the win to improve to 2-0 on the year after stopping 32 of 34 shots faced in the winning effort.

Boston is 1-4 in their last 5 games overall and 0-4 in their last 4 division games while the over is 3-1-1 in their last 5 games as a favorite. Buffalo is 6-0 in their last 6 home games and 19-47 in their last 66 games overall while the over is 5-0-1 in their last 6 games as a home underdog.

I can try to make a case for the Sabres as a home dog on some nights, and the Sabres have started out well. However, the Sabres have lost 9 of 10 against Boston and the Bruins are a bit ticked off after getting pummelled by Philadelphia. An angry Bruins team is not what you want to be up against in this matchup if you want a chance if you’re Buffalo. Give me the Bruins -1.5 in a beatdown.