The Buffalo Sabres and the Anaheim Ducks meet in NHL action from the Honda Center on Thursday night.
The Buffalo Sabres will be out to build off of their 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in their last matchup. Victor Olofsson leads the Sabres with 6 points including 4 goals while Colin Miller and Zemgus Girgensons each have 5 points with Miller logging a team-high 5 assists and Girgensons posting a team-best +4 plus/minus rating this season. Jacob Bryson leads the Sabres with 3 power play points, all coming via assists this year while Kyle Okposo and Tage Thompson each have 2 goals and 2 assists. Craig Anderson’s seen the bulk of the action in goal for Buffalo, going 3-1 with a 1.76 GAA and a .944 save percentage while Dustin Tokarski is 1-0-1 with a 1.41 GAA and a .950 save percentage in a backup role.
The Anaheim Ducks will try to rebound from a 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets in their last game. Troy Terry leads the Ducks with 7 points including a team-high 5 assists while Kevin Shattenkirk and Jakob Silfverberg each have 6 points with Shattenkirk logging 3 goals and 3 assists while Silfverberg also has 5 assists. Isac Lundestrom also has 5 assists while Rickard Rakell has a team-high 4 goals and Cam Fowler has 4 power play points this season. John Gibson’s seen the bulk of Anaheim’s action in goal, going 2-2-1 with a 2.94 GAA and a .909 save percentage while Anthony Stolarz has a 0-2 record with a 3.57 GAA and a ,911 save percentage in a backup role this season.
Buffalo is 15-38 in their last 53 games overall and 11-40 in their last 51 games as a road underdog while the under is 4-1-2 in their last 7 games overall. Anaheim is 16-40 in their last 56 games overall and 1-4 in their last 5 games as a favorite while the over is 6-0 in their last 6 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600.
I get the case that could be made for Anaheim at home, as the Ducks have been a tough out early on this season. However, while I counted Buffalo out, this Sabres team hasn’t fallen off as fast as they normally do. The regression will come for the Sabres, but I guess it’s coming later. Until then, gotta ride the value with the Sabres and the plus money here.