With a plethora of inter-league matchups taking place this evening, the Buffalo Sabres and the St. Louis Blues will follow that trend as they prepare for battle in only a few, short hours. Let's take a sneak peek at our NHL odds series where our Sabres-Blues prediction and pick will be unveiled.
The much-improved Buffalo Sabres enter play after disposing of the Dallas Stars in victorious fashion by a score of 3-2 and now sit at 24-19-3 on the season. Even more so, the Sabres possess a total of 51 points and are only three points removed from the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
As for the Blues, St. Louis has climbed out of an early-season hole to get their overall record back north of the .500 mark at 23-21-3. While they have gone down in defeat in three of their previous five outings, the Blues are beginning to find their identity more and more as each day passes.
Here are the Sabres-Blues NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Sabres-Blues Odds
Buffalo Sabres: +1.5 (-215)
St. Louis Blues: -1.5 (+172)
Over: 6.5 (-140)
Under: 6.5 (+114)
How To Watch Sabres vs. Blues
TV: ESPN+/Hulu
Stream: ESPN+/Hulu
Time: 8:00 ET/5:00 PT
*Watch NHL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Sabres Could Cover The Spread
For starters, the best chance that the Sabres have at covering the spread lies on the shoulders of a ferocious offensive attack. Alas, Buffalo has made gigantic strides from last year's team to this one when it comes to scoring the puck as the Sabres are averaging 3.78 goals per game. Not only is this good for the second-highest mark that the NHL has to offer, but the Sabres have also been able to carry their offensive prowess over to on the road as well.
At the moment, Buffalo is 10-2-1 in their last 13 games away from home and has been doing a spectacular job in jumping out to early leads during this stretch. If the Sabres can once again bury the Blues into a deep hole, then finishing them off late will prove to be a much easier task.
Not to mention, but how hot has Victor Oloffson been playing as of late? With a whopping nine goals scored in his last ten games that he has suited up for, Oloffson has quickly emerged himself as one of Buffalo's go-to scorers. In addition, the Sabres certainly can't go wrong with another solid outing from right-winger Take Thompson. Not only does Thompson lead the team in goals and points tallied, but only two skaters in the NHL have managed to score more than the 25-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona. Without a doubt, a lethal dose of the Age Thompson show may be just what it takes to cover the spread against the Blues.
Why The Blues Could Cover The Spread
While things haven't necessarily been all sunshine and roses for the Blues this year, the one thing that St. Louis has too look forward to is the return of many contributing impact players who are fresh off of recovering from lengthy injuries.
The Blues are hopeful that names like forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Torey Krug will be healthy enough to suit up for action in this one as the pair has missed games dating back to before the New Year. Clearly, both Tarasenko and Krug have been greatly missed by a St. Louis squad that has been inconsistent at times on both sides of the ice. While it will certainly be a sight for sore eyes having two impact players back in the lineup, St. Louis will still need to focus on moving the puck quickly when on the attack and preventing as many giveaways as possible.
In addition, St. Louis will need to combat Buffalo with a game plan that involves taking the puck out of the sticks of their top skaters. When taking a glance upon this Blues' defensive unit, there is definitely some work to do as they on average surrender 3.65 goals per contest. Not only is that more scores than what they average on offense, but they also don't use a whole lot of pressure when in their own zone. While these are things that could be tightened up, the one thing that the Blues have going for themselves is the fact that they possess the second-fewest penalty minutes in the entire league. Alas, St. Louis has only committed 326 minutes of penalties on the season and playing a rather clean game on the ice will benefit this bunch in more ways than one.
Final Sabres-Blues Prediction & Pick
When taking a closer look at the numbers of this one, it becomes quite obvious that the Blues don't perform well at home and are facing off with a Sabres squad that appears to be on the fringe of embarking on a lengthy winning streak. By the time the final horn sounds, Buffalo will have covered and could be on their way to a fourth-consecutive victory.
Final Sabres-Blues Prediction & Pick: Sabres +1.5 (-215)
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