Boston Bruins vs. Buffalo Sabres Prediction, NHL Odds
The Bruins and Sabres are set to continue their three-game series in Buffalo on Thursday, after Boston picked up a 2-0 shutout win on Tuesday.
The Bruins are heavy -302 road favourites to win on the NHL odds with a total of 5.5.
Bruins vs. Sabres Betting Analysis
Boston is a perfect 4-0 against the Sabres this season. It’s been a closer series than the record shows though, as three of the four games were decided by two goals or less. The total has gone Under in the last nine games between these teams.
The Bruins are coming into this game rolling with five straight wins overall and nine straight wins against Buffalo, dating back to December 2018. They’ve been a tough cover option, going 16-28 against the spread and covering in just seven of 21 road games. Boston has been an Under team in 13 of the their last 19 games as the favourite.
It’s been a disaster of a season for Buffalo and they come into Thursday with only three wins in their last 19 home games. They’re 22-24 ATS and have only covered in 10 of 24 home games.
Boston Bruins
Tuukka Rask made 32 saves and picked up his first shutout of the season to give the Bruins their fifth straight win on Tuesday. It was Rask’s third game back after missing the previous 11 with an upper-body injury. In 18 starts this year, Rask has gone 11-4-2 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. Brad Marchand’s team-leading 24th goal of the year proved to be the winner in the 2-0 victory over Buffalo, while Connor Clifton’s first goal of the season provided the insurance marker. Marchand’s 55 points is 15 more than the next closest Bruin on the roster. His 11 goals since April 1 is the most in the NHL over that span.
Buffalo Sabres
If there’s one benefit of being a Buffalo player right now, it’s that people expect nothing out of this roster. Literally nothing. The Sabres were outshot 41-32 by Boston, they went 0-for-6 on the power play and they lost their ninth straight game to the Bruins on Tuesday. There must be at least one positive thing we can say about Buffalo. Dustin Tokarski actually had a pretty good performance and finished with 39 saves in the loss. It was his fifth straight start, dropping his record to 2-6-2 with a 3.05 GAA and .918 SV. The fact that Tokarski’s save percentage is actually a couple ticks above Rask’s number, really illustrates how bad Buffalo has been this year and makes you pity every goalie that has worn a Sabres jersey in 2021.
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