The St. Louis Blues and the Buffalo Sabres meet in NHL action from the KeyBank Center on Saturday afternoon. Who comes out on top in this interconference showdown? Let’s dive in and find out with our Blues vs. Sabres Prediction.
St. Louis Blues Team Preview
The St. Louis Blues come into this one looking to start the post all-star break portion of their schedule strong after a 1-0 loss to Columbus in their last game before the break. Robert Thomas leads the Blues in scoring with 52 points including team-highs of 17 goals and 35 assists while Pavel Buchnevich has 39 points split between 17 goals and 22 assists. Jordan Kyrou has 37 points with 14 goals and 23 assists while Brayden Schenn has 27 points with 13 goals and 14 assists as well this season. Jordan Binnington’s gone 17-13-2 with a 2.92 GAA and a .908 save percentage between the pipes for St. Louis while Joel Hofer is 9-8 with a 2.89 GAA and a .909 save percentage this season.
St. Louis Blues Team Facts
- The underdogs have won each of the Blues’ last five games.
- The underdogs have covered the puck line in each of the Blues’ last five games.
- The favorites have won the third period in seven of the Blues’ last nine games at KeyBank Center.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 3′ market has hit in each of the Blues’ last 13 day games against opponents on a winning streak.
Buffalo Sabres Team Preview
The Buffalo Sabres come into this game looking to rebound from a 2-1 loss to Dallas in their first game after the all-star break. Casey Mittelstadt leads the Sabres in scoring with 42 points including a team-high 30 assists while Rasmus Dahlin has 39 points with 13 goals and 26 assists. Jeff Skinner has 34 points with 17 goals while JJ Peterka has 34 points with a team-high 18 goals and 16 assists. Alex Tuch also has 34 points with 14 goals and 20 assists this season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has a 12-12-2 record with a 2.58 GAA and a .910 save percentage while Devon Levi is 9-7-2 with a 3.30 GAA and an .891 save percentage and Eric Comrie is 1-5 with a 4.01 GAA and an .863 save percentage this season in goal for the Sabres.
Buffalo Sabres Team Facts
- The Sabres have won eight of their last nine games at KeyBank Center following a home loss.
- The Sabres have covered the puck line in each of their last four home games against Central Division opponents.
- The Sabres have won the third period in seven of their last eight games following a loss.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 1’ market has hit in seven of the last eight games between the Blues and Sabres.
Blues vs. Sabres Prediction
I’m leaning towards the Sabres here. They’re usually a tough out at home even though they’ve only been beating up on bad teams at home lately, but the Blues are also much more effective on home ice, which doesn’t really help them here. This is also St. Louis’ first game in a week and a half so there’s bound to be a little bit of rust going on here. Give me Buffalo and the reasonable price at home.