Sabres vs Bruins Odds, Picks, and Predictions Tonight: Sabres Foiled by McAvoy

The league-leading Boston Bruins look to extend their win streak to nine games when they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to TD Garden tonight as a huge home favorite.

Boston and Buffalo both rank as Top 3 offensive clubs this season, but a couple of key absences from the Sabres’ lineup, as well as some hot Bruins goaltending, could make this matchup more low-scoring than you might think.

Keep scrolling to find out my best bet in our Sabres vs Bruins NHL picks and predictions for Thursday, March 2. 

Sabres vs Bruins best odds

Sabres vs Bruins picks and predictions

The Bruins got plenty of offense from their defense in Tuesday’s win over Calgary, as trade deadline acquisition Dmitry Orlov scored his first two goals in a Boston uniform and added an assist, while Charlie McAvoy finished off a productive month of February with the overtime winner.

McAvoy — who is in the midst of his most productive NHL season with 42 points in 47 games — led Boston with 11 points in 10 contests last month. The Bruins blueliner trailed only Roman Josi (13) and Quinn Hughes (12) for the most points among defensemen in February.

Boston has unsurprisingly been scoring in bunches during its nine-game run, averaging 3.67 goals per game (GPG) over that span. Down at the other end of the ice, Buffalo has given up 4.20 GPG through its last five contests, and owns the eighth-worst defense in the NHL this season.

Sabres goaltending left plenty to be desired last month, as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Craig Anderson, and Eric Comrie combined for a 4.30 GAA and a .883 SV% over 10 games. 

All signs point to McAvoy finding the scoresheet once again, as the Bruins could run up the score vs a porous Sabres defense that will be missing Rasmus Dahlin. NHL player props have McAvoy at -167 to register a point, which seems more than fair.

My best bet: Charlie McAvoy Over 0.5 points (-167 at SIA)

Sabres vs Bruins moneyline analysis

The streaking Bruins come into tonight’s matchup as a huge home favorite at -300 on the moneyline against an undermanned Sabres squad. 

Boston enters play with 99 points on the season, and a commanding 13-point lead over Carolina in the Presidents’ Trophy race. Buffalo, on the other hand, sits three points out of the second Eastern Conference Wild Card spot.

While the Sabres took down the mighty Bruins with a 4-3 overtime win in their last meeting on Dec. 31, Boston had won an astounding 18 straight matchups vs Buffalo prior to that loss.

To make matters worse for the Sabres, they’ll be without a couple of key skaters tonight, as both Dahlin (undisclosed) and Alex Tuch (lower body) are sidelined. 

Dahlin, who looks on pace to be a Norris Trophy finalist, is averaging more than 26 minutes of ice time per game while ranking third in scoring among blueliners with 62 points. Dahlin’s absence alone will have a huge ripple effect through Buffalo’s lineup as an already thin blueline now looks even worse.

Boston’s top trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak have all eaten up against Buffalo this season, combining for 10 points through two meetings. While the potential payout for a Bruins win isn’t too appetizing, you could certainly balance it out with a prop bet on a multi-point game for any one of Marchand, Bergeron, or Pastrnak.

Sabres vs Bruins Over/Under analysis

Tonight’s contest features two of the NHL’s top offenses, but the fact that Buffalo will be missing two of its best players makes me lean towards the Under in this one. 

Tage Thompson certainly has the potential to create three or four goals on his own on any given night, but when you subtract the Sabres’ second and third-best producers in Dahlin and Tuch, the offense looks a lot less potent.

While the Bruins own the third-best offense in the league at 3.73 GPG — just behind the Sabres (3.76) — they also possess the NHL’s top defense, giving up a stingy 2.10 goals per contest. Both Linus Ullmark (.947 SV%) and Jeremy Swayman (.922 SV%) have been phenomenal in net over the last month, which suggests that we aren’t likely to see Boston give up many goals tonight.

The total opened at 5.5 but moved up to 6 or even 6.5 depending on the sportsbook. With how stingy Boston has been, I think the Under is the play, especially at 6.5.

Sabres vs Bruins betting trend to know

The Over is 4-1 in the Sabres’ last five games after allowing five or more goals in their previous game. Find more NHL betting trends for Sabres vs Bruins.

Sabres vs Bruins game info

Sabres vs Bruins key injuries

Pages related to this topic