Free NHL Picks Today: Buffalo Sabres vs Tampa Bay Lightning 3/4/23

Two of the NHL’s top offenses are set to square off at KeyBank Center on Friday, as the Tampa Bay Lightning (20-11-1) travel to face the Buffalo Sabres (16-14-2). Tampa Bay is playing their last of four games on the road coming off a high-scoring 7-4 loss against the Red Wings on Wednesday.

The Lightning committed five penalties in the game, though they held Detroit without a power play goal. Four players found the net for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov and Ross Colton both scored and provided an assist to lead the team in scoring.

Brian Elliott saved only 24 of 29 shots against (.827%) in the loss. Buffalo won their fourth in a row, beating the Golden Knights 3-2 on Monday.

Lawrence Pilut, Jeff Skinner, and Tage Thompson each scored once for the Sabres. Pilut added an assist to lead the team in scoring. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen saved 41 of 43 shots in the win (.953%).

HEAD TO HEAD

The Lightning have won both games between the teams this season, including a 6-5 (OT) victory in their most recent meeting in November, their fourth straight win against Buffalo.

Steven Stamkos (2G 1A), Mikhail Sergachev (0G 3A), and Kucherov (0G 3A) each had three points to lead Tampa Bay. Thompson led Buffalo with two points (1G 1A). Elliott got the win despite allowing five goals on 37 shots (.864%).

FACING OFF

Tampa Bay is averaging 3.59 goals per game for the season, third in the NHL, and they are taking on a Sabres team that is allowing 3.41 goals a game (22nd).

Meanwhile, Buffalo has found the net 3.94 times a game on average, first in the league, and the Lightning are allowing opponents to score 3.00 goals per game (14th).

The Sabres’ 29.75% power play percentage is the second-best in the league, while the Lightning rank sixth with a conversion rate of 26.27%. When it comes to penalty killing, Tampa Bay has the league’s 10th-ranked PK% at 80.77%, while Buffalo is 25th at 73.39%.

TOP PERFORMERS:

With 49 points this season, fifth-most in the NHL, Kucherov is the top skater for the Lightning. He is among the league leaders with 36 assists (2nd) and has added 13 goals of his own. In the net, Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-9-1) is Tampa Bay’s top goaltender. He has a 2.53 GAA and a .917% save percentage.

Thompson leads the Sabres in scoring with 50 points (3rd in the league). He has 26 goals (2nd in the league) and 24 assists in 32 games. Craig Anderson (7-4-1) has the best goals against average for Buffalo at 2.65. He has a save percentage of .922%.