Ottawa Senators vs. Buffalo Sabres Prediction, NHL Odds

Payton Matthews | Updated Apr 12, 2023

It's the season finale for the Ottawa Senators on Thursday when they travel to Buffalo to face the Sabres.

Ottawa
39-35-7-1
AT
April 13, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
KeyBank Center
Buffalo
42-33-4-3
Puckline +1.5 -204
Moneyline +110
Over / Under o +7

45%

Betting Action

55%

Puckline -1.5 +170
Moneyline -133
Over / Under u +7

45%

Betting Action

55%

A promising season and a clear step forward comes to an end for the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night as they visit the Buffalo Sabres.

Buffalo opened as favourites to win on the NHL odds.

Senators vs. Sabres NHL Betting Odds

Ottawa leads the season series 2-1, but the teams haven’t played since New Year’s Day. The lone game in Buffalo was the season opener for both on Oct. 13, a 4-1 Sabres win.

Tim Stutzle (3G, 1A) leads the Senators with four points in the season series and a plus-4 rating. Brady Tkachuk has two goals and a team-high 16 shots. Anton Forsberg started all three in net and has a 1.34 goals-against average and .959 save per centage but won’t play Thursday.

Blueliners Ilya Lyubushkin (2A) and Rasmus Dahlin (1G, 1A) and Victor Olofsson (2G) lead Buffalo with two points each. Former Senator Craig Anderson is 1-1-0 with a 1.66 GAA and Eric Comrie is 0-1-1 with a 3.68 GAA and .917 SV.

The home team is 4-1 in the past five meetings.

Ottawa Senators

Ottawa closed its home schedule with an impressive 3-2 win Monday over Metropolitan Division contender Carolina. Claude Giroux had two goals and an assist to become the 96th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points. He has a four-game goals streak. Stars forward Joe Pavelski also reached 1,000 career points on Monday, marking the first day in league history where multiple players did it. Tim Stutzle added a goal and assist Monday for Ottawa. He leads the team with 38 goals and 50 assists. Mads Sogaard allowed two goals on 29 shots to improve to 8-6-2 with a 3.29 GAA and .889 SV. Should be either him or Cam Talbot (17-14-2, 2.93 GAA, .898 SV) in the finale. Talbot is set for free agency. The Senators are 2-5 in their past seven after a win.

Buffalo Sabres

Like Ottawa, Buffalo was much improved this season but not quite enough to end the NHL’s longest playoff drought – the 12 straight seasons missing the playoffs ties the NFL’s New York Jets for the longest among the four major USA professional leagues, although the Jets probably make it next winter assuming Aaron Rodgers is on the roster. If the Sabres can find an answer in goal, they should finally make it next season with a lot of good young talent elsewhere. Tage Thompson is having a breakout season, leading the team in goals (46) and assists (47). Rasmus Dahlin (15G, 57A) is a future Norris Trophy winner. Touted rookie goaltender Devon Levi, from Quebec and a part of Team Canada in the 2022 Winter Olympics, might be the answer in net as he’s 4-2-0 with a 3.09 GAA and .901 SV. This is not the Sabres’ season finale – they close Friday in Columbus. Buffalo is 5-2 in its past seven.

NHL Prediction: Who Will Win Senators vs. Sabres?

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