Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Prediction, NHL Odds
The Buffalo Sabres are playing about as well as any team in the NHL currently as they welcome the Montreal Canadiens for the first time this season on Thursday night.
The Sabres, in the second of a back-to-back, are short -106 underdogs on the NHL odds with a total of 6.5 goals.
Canadiens vs. Sabres NHL Betting Odds
The New York Jets of the NFL have gone 15 straight seasons without reaching the playoffs, the longest active streak among teams in the NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB. The Buffalo Sabres could tie that again if they miss out come April as they have missed 14 straight years.
And it looked like that streak would continue back in early December with the team at 11-14-4, but Buffalo has completely turned its season around and is playing as well as any team in the league right now under second-year coach Lindy Ruff, who is +700 to win the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year. He won that in 2005-06 in his first stint with Buffalo.
To make the playoffs, the Sabres are -110 with no the same price. If they stay healthy, which has been a big reason for this turnaround, they should finally make it.
Thursday marks the second of four regular-season meetings between the clubs. On Oct. 20 in Montreal, the Canadiens won 4-2. Juraj Slafkovsky scored the eventual winner at 2:57 of the third. Lane Hutson and Jake Evans (empty net) also had third-period goals. Jakub Dobes stopped 30 shots in a winning effort, while Alex Lyon made 27 saves in the loss.
Montreal is 8-2 in the past 10 meetings, and the over-under is 4-4-2.
Montreal Canadiens
We projected Montreal to lose 4-2 in Washington on Tuesday to start a three-game trip, but the Habs lost 3-2 in OT – blowing a 2-0 third-period lead. Ethen Frank had both third-period goals for Washington, including the tying marker at 18:06. Connor McMichael won it at 4:21 of OT.
Josh Anderson (10th of season), in his return from a six-game injury absence, and Brendan Gallagher (fourth) had the Montreal goals. It was only Gallagher’s second goal in his last 17 games. The Canadiens had a two-man advantage for 64 seconds that carried over into the third period but didn’t score and finished 0-for-4 on the power play.
With defenceman Kaiden Guhle a late scratch, Jayden Struble got to play after being a healthy scratch the last two games. He didn’t have a point or shot in 9:44 of ice time.
Sam Montembeault made 39 saves in a tough-luck loss. It likely will be rookie Jacob Fowler in net on Thursday, and he’s 2-1-2 away with a 2.98 GAA and .889 SV. Montreal has been one of the better road teams in the league at 13-4-6.
Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo won for the 14th time in 16 games Wednesday, 5-2 over visiting Philadelphia. Blueliner and former No. 1 overall pick Rasmus Dahlin had two power-play goals. The Swede became the first Sabres defenseman with multiple in a contest since Rasmus Ristolainen on Dec. 10, 2015. It was Dahlin’s fifth multi-goal game of his career to tie for the second-most by a blueliner in franchise, but the record of 19 by Phil Housley seems quite safe.
It was the Sabres’ first game with multiple power-play goals since Josh Doan scored two on Dec. 9 in Edmonton. They had been in a 1-for-21 slump with the man advantage. Ryan McLeod clinched the game with his fourth shorthanded goal – tied with Joel Armia for the NHL lead.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen extended his home winning streak to seven games and tied the second longest run in franchise history, but he surely will not play both ends of a back-to-back. With Alex Lyon on IR, it should be Colten Ellis. The rookie from Port Hood is 5-4-0 with a 3.11 GAA and .900 SV. Centre Josh Norris (17 points) left Wednesday’s game injured and is day-to-day. Buffalo is 15-6-2 at home.
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