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The New York Rangers open their season on the road as they face the Buffalo Sabres. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Rangers-Sabres prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
The Rangers will be learning a new system this year. In the offseason, they brought in Peter Laviolette to run the show. Laviolette won the Stanley Cup back in the 2005-06 season with the Hurricanes. Since then, he has won his division three times with two different teams. The Rangers have a ton of young talent as well. Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and Filip Chytil will all be looking to improve on a great season last year. Blake Wheeler and Nick Bonino come in to bolster the depth.
Meanwhile, the Sabres will be looking to take another step forward this season. They missed the playoffs by just a point last season but they have a group of elite offensive players. Tage Thompson is back, and he scored 60 goals last year. Jeff Skinner had a huge rebound of a season last year as well. Rasmus Dahlin also looks like he will be looking to build on his great season last year as well. The Sabres are looking to not just make the playoffs this year, but win the division and go further.
Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NHL Odds: Rangers vs. Sabres Odds
New York Rangers: -125
Buffalo Sabres: +104
Over: 6.5 (-114)
Under: 6.5 (-106)
How to Watch Rangers vs. Sabres
Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT
TV: ESPN+/NHLPP
Article Continues Below
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Rangers Will Win
The Rangers are three lines deep on offense this year. The first line will start with Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Kaapo Kakko. Zibanejad was the team leader in goals last year with 39 while sitting in second on the team with 91 points. He was a beast on the power play as well. He has 20 goals and 19 assists on the power play last year. Meanwhile, Kreider had 36 goals last year with 54 total points last season. Kakko rounded out the top line, with 40 points last season. Meanwhile, Artemi Panarin is on the second line, and he was the team leader in points last season. He had 92 points last season, with 63 assists last season.
Panarin was joined by two of the young studs last year. Filip Chytil had 45 points while scoring 22 goals last season. Alexis Lafreniere is also on the line with his 39 points last year. He should also see more opportunities on the power play this year. He had just four points on the power play last year and will get more chances to score last year. Blake Wheeler is sitting on the third line after spending the last 12 seasons in Winnipeg. Last year, he had 55 points with 16 goals. He has scored 50 or more points in nine of the last ten seasons, with the only season without being in 50 games during the 2020-21 season.
In goal, Igor Shesterkin will be between the pipes. He had the third-best record among goalies last year with a 37-13-8 record. Meanwhile, he was top ten in goals against average and save percentage last season. He has a 2.48 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. In his four seasons, he has had a save percentage of .916 or higher each year, with at least a 2.62 goals against average or better. If Shesterkin can keep up this level of play, with the budding young offense, the Rangers will be in a prime position to win a lot of games this season.
Why The Sabres Will Win
For the Sabres, it all starts with Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner, and Alex Tuch. The top line was also the three top point scorers and goal scorers on the team last year. Thompson led the team with 47 goals and also had 47 assists to go with it. He was a monster on the power play last season, with 20 power-play goals and 14 assists on the power play. Meanwhile, Skinner had a great comeback season. He scored 35 goals last season with 47 assists as well. Alex Tuch scored 36 times last year and has 43 assists.
The top line also got a lot of help from Rasmus Dahlin. The 2018 number-one overall pick had the best season of his career. He scored 73 points last season with 58 assists, primarily assisting that top line. The second line does not have the same firepower but is still solid. That is led by Dylan Cozens. Cozens had 31 goals last season with 68 total points on the year. He is joined by Victor Olofsson. He had 40 points last year with 28 goals. Owen Power will be hoping to provide support from the blue line. He was solid last year, with four goals and 35 assists last season.
Devon Levi may be the starting goaltender for the Sabres this year. He is just 21 years old and made his first NHL start last season. He played in seven games last season and was solid. Levi went 5-2 that year with a 2.94 goals-against average. He also had a save percentage of .905. If it is not Levi to start, it will be Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. He was 17-11-4 last year with a 3.61 goals against average. Still, he struggled with the Rangers last year and did not have a win against them.
Final Rangers-Sabres Prediction & Pick
The key in this game will come down to the power play. The Sabres were one of the worst penalty-kill units in the NHL last year. The Rangers were one of the best on the power play. They converted nearly 25 percent of their chances last year on the power play. The Rangers are going to be a high-scoring team this year. They have three lines of depth while having an amazing power play. They are going to score early and often in this one. The Rangers may not cover a 1.5-goal spread though. Buffalo can score as well, so this could be a very close game, and may be decided in the last minutes of the game. That makes the best play taking the Rangers on the money line in this one.
Final Rangers-Sabres Prediction & Pick: Rangers ML (-125)
