The Buffalo Sabres (+210) are on the road to face the Tampa Bay Lightning (-260) at Amalie Arena on Saturday. The total is 6.5 (O: -115, U: -105)Buffalo (7-4-0) is playing the second of a back-to-back after suffering a high-scoring 5-3 loss against the Hurricanes yesterday, ending a streak of three straight wins.
The Sabres committed five penalties in the game, conceding one power play goal. Victor Olofsson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Jacob Bryson each scored once for the Sabres. Jack Quinn had two assists to lead the team in scoring.
Craig Anderson saved only 28 of 32 shots against (.875%) in the loss.Tampa Bay (6-4-1) fell 4-3 (SO) to the Hurricanes on Thursday. Nicholas Paul, Nikita Kucherov, and Ross Colton each scored once for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy had a great performance with 52 saves (.945%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Lightning won two of the three games between the teams last season, including a 5-0 victory in their final meeting in April. Ondrej Palat led Tampa Bay with two points (1G 1A). Brian Elliott saved 28 shots to earn the shutout win.
FACING OFF
Buffalo is averaging 4.18 goals per game for the season, second in the NHL, and they are taking on a Lightning team that is allowing 3.09 goals a game (14th). Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has found the net 3.18 times a game on average, 16th in the league, and the Sabres are allowing opponents to score 3.00 goals per game (12th).
The Lightning’s 23.40% power play percentage ranks 11th in the league, while the Sabres are 12th with a conversion rate of 23.26%. In terms of penalty killing, Tampa Bay has the league’s eighth-ranked PK% at 82.50%, while Buffalo is 20th at 77.78%.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 15 and 14 points this season, Dahlin and Tage Thompson have been the top skaters for the Sabres. Both have seven goals (9th) in 11 games. Dahlin also has eight assists, while Thompson has set up seven goals for teammates. In the net, Anderson (3-1-0) is Buffalo’s top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 2.25 GAA and a .927% save percentage.
Eric Comrie (4-3-0) leads the Sabres in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 3.29 and a save percentage of .898%.Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 16 points (7th in the league). He has five goals and 11 assists (5th). Vasilevskiy (4-3-1) has the best goals against average for Tampa Bay at 2.87. He has a save percentage of .911%.
HOME AND AWAY
Buffalo is 3-2-0 away from home this season. Tampa Bay is 2-1-1 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
TB Lightning (-250)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
