Sabres vs. Canucks: Projected Lines, Betting Odds, How to Watch & More

The biggest question mark heading into the Buffalo Sabres game against the Vancouver Canucks Saturday is perhaps the weather. A winter storm has moved in to Western New York, with high winds and lake effect snow in the forecast creating visibility concerns and blizzard-like conditions. The game will be played as scheduled, but fans planning on attending the game should be cautious of poor travel conditions.

Must Read: What the Buffalo Weather Could Mean for the Sabres Saturday

The Canucks are also storming their way into Buffalo, currently sitting second in the NHL standings with 59 points in 42 games. They’re on a four game winning streak and have a league-best +54 point-differential.

How to Watch

Gametime: 4:00 p.m. ET

Location: KeyBank Center (Buffalo, NY)

TV: MSG (Buffalo); SN (Vancouver)

Stream: MSG+; ESPN+ (Out-of-market)

Radio: WGR550

The Sabres

With imaging results from yesterday still not made public, it’s likely the Sabres will be without star center Tage Thompson for today’s contest. There was no morning skate due to the early start time, so we’ll have to wait until pregame warmups to see how the lineup will shake out if he can’t go..

It would be a big loss for the Sabres, as Thompson was their best player despite limited minutes against the Ottawa Senators Thursday.

Must Read: Sabres Grades: Thompson, Dahlin, Krebs Best Ottawa

In order to beat the Canucks, the Sabres will have to rely on the line of JJ Peterka, Dylan Cozens, and Jack Quinn. The Sabres second line usually draws the toughest matchups, which means they’ll draw the red-hot “Lotto” line today against Vancouver.

The Canucks

The aforementioned “Lotto” line of the Canucks is back together, meaning the three top offensive talents on Vancouver of Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, and Brock Boeser have joined forces. Pettersson has nine goals and 14 points over his last six games. In that same span, Miller has four goals and 10 points, while Boeser has three goals and eight points.

Along with Norris-candidate defenseman Quinn Hughes, the four have combined for 47% of the team’s points this season. That’s a very top-heavy distribution of offense.

Injury Report

Buffalo

• Tage Thompson (Undisclosed) Day-to-Day
• Jeff Skinner (Upper Body) Week-to-Week

Vancouver

• Phillip Di Giuseppe (Undisclosed) Out [IR]
• Guillaume Brisebois (Undisclosed) Out [IR]
• Tucker Poolman (Head) [IR]

Projected Lines, Pairs, and Goalies

Buffalo Sabres

Zach Benson – Casey Mittelstadt – Alex Tuch

JJ Peterka – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn

Jordan Greenway – Jordan Greenway – Kyle Okposo

Zemgus Girgensons – Peyton Krebs – Eric Robinson

Rasmus Dahlin – Mattias Samuelsson

Owen Power – Erik Johnson

Ryan Johnson – Connor Clifton

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Confirmed)

Lineup Source: PuckLuck Projected

Goalie Source: Bill Hoppe, Times Herald

Vancouver Canucks

Elias Pettersson – J.T. Miller – Brock Boeser

Ilya Mikheyev – Pius Suter – Andrei Kuzmenko

Dakota Joshua – Teddy Blueger – Conor Garland

Nils Hoglander – Nils Aman -Sam Lafferty

Quinn Hughes – Filip Hronek

Nikita Zadorov – Ian Cole

Carson Soucy – Tyler Myers

Thatcher Demko (Projected)

Lineup Source: PuckLuck Projected

Goalie Source: PuckLuck Projected

Betting Odds Breakdown

It’ll be tough for the Sabres to weather the storm today, with only about a 37% chance of winning per PuckLuck. The consensus on the moneyline across the major sportsbooks is about +130, which implies close to a 43% chance today.

Needless to say the edge in on Vancouver, who are listed at about -150 or a 60% implied win probability. That’s enough to give us a mild edge on the moneyline.

If Thatcher Demko starts in net for the Canucks, PuckLuck is also projecting a low game total today. 5.57 goals on a game that’s list at 6.5 is a big difference. It’s currently listed a plus-money (about +115) which makes this a really strong play today.

For more betting analysis across the NHL, be sure to head over to PuckLuck.com.

*PuckLuck.com provides data related to gambling and cannot guarantee the success of any suggested or related wagers. Please gamble responsibly.*