Buffalo Sabres (26-19-3) vs. Minnesota Wild (26-17-4)
January 28, 2023 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Wild -200 / Buffalo Sabres +160; Over/Under: +6.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild meet Saturday in NHL action at the Xcel Energy Center. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Buffalo Sabres Betting Preview
The Buffalo Sabres are averaging 3.8 goals per game and are scoring on 25.7 percent of their power play opportunities. Tage Thompson leads Buffalo with 34 goals, Rasmus Dahlin has 41 assists and Alex Tuch has 141 shots on goal. Defensively, the Buffalo Sabres are allowing 3.4 goals per game and are killing 73.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has given up 63 goals on 623 shots faced, and Craig Anderson has given up 45 goals on 552 shots.
The Minnesota Wild Betting Preview
The Minnesota Wild are averaging 3.1 goals per game and are scoring on 24 percent of their power play opportunities. Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 27 goals, Mats Zuccarello has 28 assists and Matt Boldy has 142 shots on goal. Defensively, the Minnesota Wild are allowing 2.9 goals per game and are killing 79.1 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Marc-Andre Fleury has given up 83 goals on 862 shots faced, and Filip Gustavsson has allowed 42 goals on 541 shots.
Sabres vs Wild Trends
The Sabres are 119-245 in their last 364 road games and 5-0 in their last 5 overall. The Wild are 66-27 in their last 93 home games and 5-2 in their last 7 Saturday games. The over is 5-0 in Sabres last 5 Saturday games. The under is 13-6-2 in Wild last 21 overall. The Sabres are 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Minnesota and 5-1 in the last 6 meetings. The road team is 19-8 in the last 27 meetings. The underdog is 6-0 in the last 6 meetings.
Randy’s Free Pick
The Minnesota Wild are going to get the benefit of the doubt because they’re at home and the Sabres issues on the road are well documented. However, we’re getting big plus money with a hot Sabres side, and they’ve had success against the Wild in recent meetings. It’s hard to turn down the plus money here with the Sabres given their current form.
