Avalanche vs. Sabres NHL Odds, Pick: How Many Goals Will be Scored?
Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images. Pictured: Nathan MacKinnon.
- The Sabres welcome the Avalanche to town on Thursday night.
- The Sabres enter riding the high of a dramatic victory, while the Avalanche will be stewing from a blowout loss.
- Jonny Lazarus previews the game and shares his best bet below.
Avalanche vs. Sabres Odds
| Avalanche Odds | -184 |
| Sabres Odds | +152 |
| Over/Under | 6.5 (-114/-106) |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| TV | SNE |
The Buffalo Sabres have played in some crazy games as of late, winning in dramatic fashion Wednesday night against the Detroit Red Wings. The Sabres watched their 4-1 lead slip away in the third period, but were still able to come away with a big win.
The Colorado Avalanche are coming off their worst loss of the season. The Avalanche got completely outplayed and lost 5-0 on the road against the Winnipeg Jets.
The Sabres will be playing their third game in four nights and will face a very hungry Avalanche team in need of a strong bounceback performance.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche aren't used to getting blown out like they did Tuesday night. One would have to imagine head coach Jared Bednar will have Colorado fired up and ready to go right from puck drop in this game.
The thing that separates the Avalanche from the rest of the league is their power play unit. They have scored at least one goal in eight of their past 10 games and are the best team in the league on the man advantage, converting at a 32.4% success rate.
Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have become one of the league's most dangerous duos. Rantanen enters this game with 29 points in 20 games and MacKinnon has 28 points in 20 games. Those two, along with Cale Makar from the blue line, carry the offensive play. Makar is sixth in points amongst defensemen with 21 in 20 games.
Alexandar Georgiev didn't have his best performance in the most recent game, but he has been stellar for the most part in his first season with the team. He is boasting a 10-3-1 record with a .926 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average. He is expected to start this game and will also be seeking a bounce-back performance.
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres have been playing good, albeit not perfect, hockey over the course of their past three games. They found a way to win Wednesday, but it certainly wasn't pretty.
The Sabres have been a lot of fun to watch this season thanks to the play of Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner, Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin, but they still have a ton of work to do in order to become a team that plays well consistently.
Sure, the Sabres have a ton of offensive talent, but defensively, they are a tad chaotic. Buffalo is allowing 3.61 goals per game, which ranks 28th. They also rank in the bottom five in chances for and against.
Craig Anderson started Wednesday's contest, so it is very likely Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will get the nod here. He is skating to a 1-1-1 record with a .857 save percentage and a 3.95 goals-against average.
Avalanche vs. Sabres Pick
Both of these teams have a ton of offensive talent on their rosters and I think that will be the story of this game. This isn't a very noteworthy goaltending or defensive battle, but both of these teams can flat-out score goals.
The Colorado Avalanche are averaging 3.44 goals per game and the Buffalo Sabres are averaging 3.67 goals in each contest.
Georgiev has been solid in goal this year, but I don't know if I'd go as far as calling him reliable and the Sabres' offense has been buzzing, scoring nine goals in their past two games.
I think this game could easily be a barn burner and the over between these two teams is 4-0 in the past four meetings in Buffalo. I want to see some goals.
Pick: Over 6.5 |
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