The New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres meet in NHL action from the KeyBank Center on Thursday night. Let’s dive into the odds, injuries, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.
Odds
The Buffalo Sabres are listed as -120 home favorites while the New York Islanders are +100 road underdogs with the total set at 6 goals.
Injuries
Adam Pelech and Kyle Palmieri are currently listed as out until late January, with both suffering from upper body ailments while the Sabres have no new names on their injury report.
Matchup history
The Sabres have won 4 of the last 5 head-to-head meetings in the series, with the Sabres snagging a 5-3 win over the Islanders back on April 23rd, 2022.
Trends
New York is 1-6 in their last 7 games overall and 1-5 in their last 6 road games while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games overall. Buffalo is 0-4 in their last 4 home games and 1-5 in their last 6 games overall while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record.
Pick
Both of these teams have been struggling, but I’m leaning towards Buffalo here. The Islanders are playing in low-scoring games lately, but mostly because their offense has started to fall off of a cliff. Buffalo hasn’t been much better, but this Sabres team plays their best hockey at home and I think the Sabres manage to get a win in this one.