Offense meets defense at American Airlines Center on Monday as the explosive Buffalo Sabres (23-19-3) are on the road to face the stifling Dallas Stars (28-13-7).
Buffalo is playing their first of four games on the road coming off a high-scoring 6-3 win over the Ducks on Saturday. The Sabres committed only two penalties in the game, holding Anaheim without a power play goal.
Peyton Krebs and Victor Olofsson both scored twice for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 34 saves in the win. Dallas beat the Coyotes 4-0 on Saturday. Radek Faksa was the leading goal scorer for the Stars, netting twice. Jake Oettinger earned his third shutout of the season, second-most in the league, with 33 saves.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Stars won both games between the teams last season, including a 4-2 victory in their final meeting in February. Michael Raffl led Dallas with two goals. Cody Eakin and Tage Thompson were on the scoresheet for Buffalo. Oettinger got the win, saving 38 of 40 shots (.950%).
FACING OFF
Buffalo is averaging 3.80 goals per game for the season, best in the NHL. The visitors will face a difficult test against a Stars team that is allowing only 2.54 goals a game (2nd).
Meanwhile, Dallas has found the net 3.46 times a game on average, seventh in the league, and the Sabres are allowing opponents to score 3.44 goals per game (24th).
The Sabres’ fourth-ranked power play offense (26.54%) will face a challenging test against the Stars, who are the league’s fifth-best penalty killing team (83.33%).
Dallas, meanwhile, has scored on 25.69% of their power play opportunities (6th), which the hosts will be aiming to improve on against Buffalo’s 27th-ranked 73.91% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 61 points this season, seventh-most in the NHL, Thompson is the top skater for the Sabres. He is among the league leaders with 32 goals (3rd) and has added 29 assists.
In the net, Craig Anderson (7-6-2) is Buffalo’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 2.78 GAA and a .917% save percentage.
Luukkonen (11-5-1) leads the Sabres in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 3.39 and a save percentage of .896%.Jason Robertson leads the Stars in scoring with 64 points (5th in the league).
He has 31 goals (5th in the league) and 33 assists. Oettinger (20-7-4) has the best goals against average for Dallas at 2.26, fourth-best in the league. He has a save percentage of .924%, also fourth-best.
HOME AND AWAY
Buffalo is 12-7-1 away from home this season. Dallas is 13-5-3 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Dallas Stars (-185)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
