A pair of teams that both took the ice yesterday, the St. Louis Blues and the Buffalo Sabres clash at the KeyBank Center. The game gets underway at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 17, and you’ll be able to catch this East-West matchup live on Fox Sports Midwest.
St. Louis Blues vs. Buffalo Sabres Odds
St. Louis comes into the contest as the noticeable favorite with a -155 moneyline. The line for Buffalo now stands at +135, and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals. If you want to play the matchup’s total, you’ll be looking at odds of -110 money on the over and -110 on the under.
St. Louis is 37-34 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.9 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Through 71 regular season contests, 39 of its games have gone under the total, while 27 have gone over and just four have pushed. This 2018-19 Blues team is 20-17 SU on the road.
St. Louis has converted on 20.4 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is ranked eighth overall, and the team’s successfully killed off 81.4 percent of its penalties.
St. Louis, as a collective unit, has been penalized 3.5 times per game overall this season, and 2.8 per game over its past ten outings. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 6.1 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Boasting a .904 save percentage and 24.8 saves per game, Jake Allen (18-25-6) has been the best option in goal for St. Louis this season. If head coach Craig Berube decides to rest him, however, St. Louis could roll with Jordan Binnington (17-7-1 record, .931 save percentage, 1.77 goals against average).
Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko will both lead the offensive attack for the visiting Blues. O’Reilly (68 points) has tallied 26 goals and 42 assists, and has recorded two or more points in 19 different games. Tarasenko has 28 goals and 30 assists to his creditand has logged a point in 39 games.
Buffalo is 30-41 straight up (SU) and has lost 7.0 units for moneyline bettors this year. 38 of its outings have gone over the total, while 30 have gone under and just two have pushed. It’s 19-16 SU at home this season.
Buffalo has converted on 18.2 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked ninth overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.2 percent of all penalties.
The Sabres have been penalized only 3.2 times per game this season, and 4.0 per game over their past five contests. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 7.8 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Carter Hutton (27.4 saves per game) has been the top choice in goal for Buffalo. Hutton has 16 wins, 27 losses, and five overtime losses to his name and has recorded a .910 save percentage and 2.88 goals against average this season.
The home team offense will be led by Jack Eichel (25 goals, 47 assists).
St. Louis Blues vs. Buffalo Sabres Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Sabres, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- The total has gone under in four of St. Louis’ last five outings.
- St. Louis has managed 29.0 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Buffalo is averaging 33.4 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- The Sabres are 11-20 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 23-29 when they’re in the box for fewer than 10 penalty minutes, total.
- Buffalo (4-3 in shootouts) has more shootout experience coming into this one. St. Louis has only participated in two shootouts this year, winning one and losing the other.
- Buffalo has managed 6.4 takeaways per game (ranked 27th in the NHL).
- St. Louis skaters have created 7.8 takeaways per game over its last five road games, right in line with its season average of 8.1 takeaways per game (ranked 10th overall).
