Free NHL Picks Today: New York Rangers vs Buffalo Sabres 4/10/23

The Buffalo Sabres (39-32-7) and their explosive offense head to face the New York Rangers (47-21-12) and their suffocating defense at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Buffalo is coming off a 4-3 win over the Hurricanes on Saturday. The Sabres committed only two penalties in the game, holding Carolina without a power play goal.

Casey Mittelstadt led the Sabres with two goals. Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and two assists to lead the team in scoring. Devon Levi saved 31 of 34 shots in the win.

New York beat the Blue Jackets 4-0 on Saturday. Four players found the net for the Rangers. Mika Zibanejad had two assists to lead the team in scoring. Igor Shesterkin recorded his third shutout of the season with 20 saves.

HEAD TO HEAD

The teams have split their two meetings this season, the most recent of which was a 3-2 (OT) victory for the Sabres in March. Mittelstadt led Buffalo with two points (0G 2A). Kaapo Kakko and Adam Fox were on the scoresheet for New York. Levi got the win, saving 31 of 33 shots (.939%).

FACING OFF

Buffalo is averaging 3.59 goals per game for the season, third in the NHL. The visitors will face a difficult test against a Rangers team that is allowing only 2.64 goals a game (4th).

Meanwhile, New York has found the net 3.36 times a game on average, 10th in the league, and the Sabres are allowing opponents to score 3.64 goals per game (26th).

The Sabres’ 23.85% power play percentage ranks eighth in the league, while the Rangers are ninth with a conversion rate of 23.24%. While strong on the power play, Buffalo has been less impressive at penalty killing, as the away team owns the league’s fifth-lowest PK% at 72.94%. New York’s 80.45% ranks 14th in the NHL.

TOP PERFORMERS:

With 93 points this season, Tage Thompson is the top skater for the Sabres. He is among the league leaders with 46 goals (6th) and has added 47 assists. In the net, Craig Anderson (10-11-2) is Buffalo’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 3.07 GAA and a .908% save percentage.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (17-11-4) leads the Sabres in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 3.61 and a save percentage of .891%. Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin lead the Rangers in scoring with 89 points apiece.

Zibanejad has 39 goals and 50 assists, while Panarin has 26 goals and 63 assists (10th). Shesterkin (37-13-7) is the top goalie for New York with a goals against average of 2.49. He has a save percentage of .915%.