The Buffalo Sabres are heating up, and they have zero plans of stopping from collecting wins while they're hot. It's going to be easier said than done, though, later tonight when they pay the Vegas Golden Knights a visit in Sin City. The Golden Knights beat the Sabres in Buffalo, 7-4, last November. Will the Sabres extend their win streak? Or will the Golden Knights beat Buffalo — again? With all that being said, let’s now take a look at our NHL odds series plus our Sabres-Golden Knights prediction for this showdown scheduled at 10:00 PM ET.
Here are the Sabres-Golden Knights NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Sabres-Golden Knights Odds
Buffalo Sabres: +1.5 (-170)
Golden Knights: -1.5 (+138)
Over: 6.5 (-115)
Under: 6.5 (-105)
Why The Sabres Could Cover The Spread
Don't tell the Sabres that they can't beat any team, especially right now when they're feeling hot. Tage Thompson and the Sabres are in the midst of a winning streak which they extended to three games after beating the Arizona Coyotes on the road last Saturday, 5-2. Before that, the Sabres' confidence got a major boost by humbling the reigning Stanley Cup champions in a 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Mile High City last Thursday.
Speaking of Thompson, the hulking first-line center has been nothing short of sensational this season, particularly since the start of the month of December. In eight games played so far this month, Thompson already has scored a total of 11 goals to go with nine assists. While plenty of it came from his 5-goal effort in a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier this month, Thompson has scored four goals in the last three Sabres outings. Not only that but he's collected eight assists in the same span. It's also worth mentioning that Thompson found the back of the net twice in the first meeting with the Golden Knights.
With Thompson leading the attack, the Sabres have become and still are the highest-scoring squad in the NHL this season, with an average of 3.97 goals per game. The return of Jeff Skinner comes at the right time for the Sabres, who are leading the league with a 12.2 shooting percentage. After serving a two-game suspension, Thompson returned to action in the meeting with Arizona and recorded two goals and an assist.
Buffalo's power-play attack will also be one to watch later tonight, considering that the Sabres are second overall with a success rate of 30.0 percent on the man-advantage. The Sabres, who have scored six power play goals on 13 chances in the last three games, are 4-0 in their last four games versus teams from the Western Conference.
Why The Golden Knights Could Cover The Spread
Vegas' luck ran out in its last game, as the Golden Knights saw their two-game winning streak end in a 5-2 home loss to the New York Islanders last Saturday. That being said, they did not just rely on lady luck in that contest. In fact, the Golden Knights put themselves in a great position to get luck on their side. It just did not happen. Vegas took 38 shots on goal to just 26 by the Isles. They also won 59.3 percent of faceoffs. They are hoping for a different result this time around when they share the ice again with the Sabres.
In the first meeting with Buffalo, the Golden Knights outshot the Sabres, 38-36, and won faceoffs 58.6 percent of the time. Jack Eichel carved up Buffalo's defense for three goals. And while he won't be there Monday night to help his team try to score another win at the expense of his former team with Eichel recently placed on the injured reserve, the Golden Knights should still be able to exploit weaknesses in Buffalo's defense. The Sabres might be the highest-scoring team in the NHL today, but they are allowing 3.45 goals per game, 10th-worst in the league.
Buffalo is also the owner of the sixth-highest 5-on-5 Expected Goals Against (68.7). Vegas does have an idea of how to expose the Sabres' defense, given the way the Golden Knights did just that in the first meeting when they had more even-strength high-danger shots (13-11) and posted a better even-strength Expected Goals For rate (55.49 percent). And while Vegas' season penalty-killing performance isn't great, it's been a whole lot more successful lately.
In fact, the Golden Knights have allowed just a single power play goal to their last five opponents on eight total chances. Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault have each scored three goals in the last five Vegas games. As a team, the Golden Knights have won five of their last five games after surrendering at least three goals in a home defeat.
Final Sabres-Golden Knights Prediction & Pick
The Sabres have posted an insane 109.9 PDO through their last three games. And yet, the Sabres have only posted a 42.8 CF% in that span. The Golden Knights will take advantage of Buffalo regressing closer to the mean and win anew versus Buffalo. Taking the Golden Knights to cover the spread.
Final Sabres-Golden Knights Prediction & Pick: Golden Knights -1.5 (+138)
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