The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres meet in NHL action from the Keybank Center on Saturday afternoon. Let’s dive into the odds, injuries, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.
Odds
Tampa Bay is listed as a -170 road favorite while Buffalo is a +145 home underdog. The total for this game is set at 6.5 goals.
Injuries
For Tampa Bay, Erik Cernak is questionable for this game with an undisclosed injury while Buffalo has Rasmus Dahlin listed as out with a lower body injury and Alex Tuch is out indefinitely with a lower body injury as well.
Matchup History
Buffalo’s 6-5 OT win back on February 23rd, 2023, snapped Tampa Bay’s four-game head-to-head win streak in this matchup.
Trends
Tampa Bay is 1-4 in their last 5 games overall and 83-34 in their last 117 division games while the over is 10-4-2 in their last 16 Saturday games. Buffalo is 1-4 in their last 5 home games and 6-2 in their last 8 Saturday games while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 games overall.
Pick
I’m backing the over here. These two have been struggling as of late, which seems a bit uncharacteristic for the Lightning, but it is what it is. The Sabres have had their ups and downs as of late as well, and they’ve struggled more at home for whatever reason. The last two meetings have both seen double-digit totals and I think this game’s no different. Give me the over here.