The Vegas Golden Knights were aggressive ahead of Monday’s trade deadline as they look to win the Pacific Division title, while Buffalo was largely a seller at the deadline as the Sabres are going to miss the playoffs again. The teams close their season series in Vegas on Friday with the Knights as huge NHL betting favorites at Mybookie. Let’s see how the NHL odds will be for the Sabres vs Golden Knights.
Sabres vs Golden Knights 2020 NHL Game Preview & Betting Odds
- When: Friday, 10 PM ET
- Where: T-Mobile Arena
- TV: NHL Center Ice
- Opening NHL Lines: Vegas -255, Buffalo +225 (total 6)
Sabres vs Golden Knight Last Meeting
The Sabres were 4-2 home winners over the Golden Knights on Jan. 14. Buffalo captain Jack Eichel scored the go-ahead goal on an end-to-end rush 7:57 into the third period. Eichel drove through the neutral zone to create a two-on-one break. Cutting to the left wing, Eichel burst past defenseman Shea Theodore, cut to the net and shifted from his backhand to forehand to flip the puck over Marc-Andre Fleury’s glove. Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists, and Kyle Okposo and Curtis Lazar, with an empty-netter, also scored. Linus Ullmark finished with 24 saves for the Sabres. Reilly Smith and Tomas Nosek scored for the Golden Knights. Fleury stopped 22 shots.
Why Bet on Buffalo?
Buffalo started its road trip with a 3-2 loss at Colorado on Wednesday. Colorado grabbed a one-goal lead in the first and second period, only to see the Buffalo Sabres tie it up. However, the Avs got the winner about midway through the third. Sabres center Dominik Kahun was a scratch. He was acquired from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline.
Zemgus Girgensons and Curtis Lazar scored for the Sabres, who have dropped five straight to Colorado. Wayne Simmonds made his Buffalo debut after being acquired from the New Jersey Devils. Girgensons has four points in his last three games, bringing the 26-year-old center to 12 goals and 19 points in 63 games this season. Lazar tied the game at 2-2 14:56 into the second period when he got his stick on a shot by Jake McCabe. He has five goals and 10 points in 32 games. Rasmus Ristolainen racked up seven hits and eight blocks. Ristolainen ranks 11th in the league with 186 hits. He has also been credited with 78 blocks.
Carter Hutton allowed three goals on 34 shots. Hutton has played well for the most taking over from injured No. 1 Linus Ullmark (lower body). Hutton has dropped two of his last three starts and is 12-11-4 with a 3.18 goals-against-average and a .898 save percentage.
The Sabres have recalled defenseman Lawrence Pilut from the Rochester Americans (AHL) and assigned defenseman John Gilmour to Rochester. Pilut has appeared in 11 games with the Sabres in 2019-20, averaging 16:08 of ice time and tallying five shots on goal.
Rookie Victor Olofsson’s 40 points in 48 games played (.85 points per game) this season ranks as the seventh-best scoring rate all-time among Sabres rookies with at least 15 games played.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 2.92
- Shots: 29.19
- PP/PK Percentage: 19.89
- Goals: 3.11
- Shots: 31.13
- PP/PK Percentage: 25.86
Why Bet on Vegas?
No team is hotter than Vegas, which won its seventh in a row Wednesday, 3-0 over Edmonton. Since replacing the fired Gerard Gallant with Peter DeBoer, the Knights are 11-3-2. Since then, the Golden Knights are tied with two others for second-most points (24) in the league, and are tied for first with 60 goals scored and with a 3.75 goals-per-game average. They also rank first in shots per game (35.7) and third in shots allowed per contest (27.6).
Nick Cousins, acquired at Monday’s trade deadline from Montreal, scored in his Vegas debut. Cousins knocked home a rebound on a power play for his sixth overall goal to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead midway through the third period. Cousins became the 6th Golden Knights player to score in his debut this season and the 3rd to do it in the last four games. In the Golden Knights’ history, 10 players scored in their debut.
Max Pacioretty and Shea Theodore also scored. Pacioretty scored off of a feed from William Karlsson late in the first-period to give Vegas a game-long lead. He also reached the 30-goal plateau for the first time since 2016-17 to bring him up to 30 goals and 30 assists on the season. Pacioretty has six goals and four assists in his last six games. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 29 shots to earn his 61st career shutout, tied for 17th all-time with Turk Broda.
On Thursday, the team signed forward William Carrier to a four-year contract extension through the 2023-24 season worth an average annual value of $1.4 million. Carrier has recorded a career-high 18 points (7 G, 11 A) to go with 37 penalty minutes in 65 games this season. He also has recorded 199 hits this season, which ranks second on the team and sixth in the league.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.25
- Shots: 34.43
- PP/PK Percentage: 21.43
- Goals: 3.02
- Shots: 29.77
- PP/PK Percentage: 22.06
Sabres vs Golden Knights Game Trends
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Buffalo’s last 6 games.
- Buffalo are 5-2 SU in their last 7 games.
- Buffalo are 5-13 SU in their last 18 games on the road.
- Vegas are 6-0 SU in their last 6 games at home.
- Home team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
Sabres vs Golden Knights Expert Prediction
Vegas 4, Buffalo 2
