The Buffalo Sabres (6-21-4) visit the Pittsburgh Penguins (20-11-2) for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. Below, we analyze the Sabres-Penguins odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
Sabres at Penguins: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 5 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Sabres +250 (bet $100 to win $250) | Penguins -300 (bet $300 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Sabres +1.5 (+105) | Penguins -1.5 (-125)
- Over/Under: 6 (O: -105 | U: -115)
Sabres at Penguins: Projected starting goalies
Dustin Tokarski (0-2-0, .886 SV%, 4.64 GAA) vs. Casey DeSmith (7-3-0, .919 SV%, 2.11 GAA)
Tokarski started Monday against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden and allowed 4 goals in a loss. For the 31-year-old, the game at MSG marked his first NHL start since December of 2015. Tokarski followed that effort up by allowing 5 goals in Wednesday’s loss to the Pens.
DeSmith has been tremendous in five starts since late-February. Over the five turns, the 29-year-old has registered a .956 SV%. The middle of those five efforts was a 24-save shutout at Buffalo March 13.
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Sabres at Penguins: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Pittsburgh 3, Buffalo 1
Money line (ML)
Buffalo has been reeling. The Sabres are 0-13-2 over their last 15 games and over that stretch, Buffalo has been outshot by nearly 10 shots per game. Thursday’s game is the back half of two games in two days; the Penguins took Wednesday’s game 5-2 and outshot the Sabres 42-28.
The Sabres are banged up with C Jack Eichel (upper body) out since March 7 and their top two netminders — G Carter Hutton (undisclosed) and G Linus Ullmark (lower body) — also on the shelf.
The Pens are in the midst of playing more meaningful games because of their third-place standing in the East Division. Pittsburgh is the lean, but PASS on the straight-up play and leverage the lighter juice on the puck line.
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Against the spread (ATS)
Pittsburgh is a robust 13-3-1 at home. The second-to-last time the Pens played back-to-back days at home, the second game yielded a 5-1 win (March 7 vs. the Rangers).
BACK THE PENGUINS -1.5 (-125).
Over/Under (O/U)
Ride DeSmith against a banged-up Buffalo side, and the yield here is a DECENT VALUE ON THE UNDER 6 (-115).
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