Sabres vs. Panthers: Projected Lines, Betting Odds, How to Watch & More 4/13/24

The Buffalo Sabres [38-37-5] are in Florida to face the Panthers [50-24-6] as the season nears an end. On Thursday, the Sabres started the post-elimination homestretch with a win over the Washington Capitals. Saturday they’ll have a tougher challenge against a more decorated opponent.

Must Read: Sabres Defeat Capitals 4-2 on Fan Appreciation Night

How to Watch

Gametime: 5:00 p.m. ET

Location: Amerant Bank Arena (Sunrise, FLA)

TV: MSG (Buffalo); BSSUNX (Florida)

Stream: MSG+

Radio: WGR550

The Sabres

The long season nears a familiar conclusion, as empty-calorie games are a thing the Sabres have grown accustomed to over the last decade. The breath of fresh air this season is the consistency of rookie forward Zach Benson.

The 18-year-old has impressed not with production, but rather with his consistent effort, forecheck, and play-driving tendencies. In his last five games, Benson’s showing flashes of offense generating some buzz about his future with six points.

With a pipeline of first-round forwards selected in years ahead of him knocking on the door to make the club, the Sabres should be excited about the potential depth of the forward group for the upcoming years.

The Panthers

The season’s highlight around Sunrise is the massive jump of former Sabre Sam Reinhart in his pending unrestricted free-agent year. He netted his 54th goal of the season on Thursday, with a career-high 91 points and 27 powerplay goals.

With Reinhart drawing more attention from defensive matchups, things have opened up for Matthew Tkachuk on Florida’s second scoring line. After a slow start, Tkachuk has 85 points in 78 games for the Panthers.

Injury Report

Buffalo

• Bowen Byram (Personal) Day-to-Day
• Tyson Jost (Undisclosed) Day-to-Day
• Mattias Samuelsson (Upper Body) Out For Season [IR]

Florida

• Aaron Ekblad (Undisclosed) Out
• Carter Verhaeghe (Upper Body) Out

Projected Lines

Buffalo Sabres

JJ Peterka – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch

Zach Benson – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn

Jeff Skinner – Peyton Krebs – Jordan Greenway

Eric Robinson – Zemgus Girgensons – Lukas Rousek

Owen Power – Rasmus Dahlin

Bowen Byram – Henri Jokiharju

Jacob Bryson – Connor Clifton

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Projected)

Florida Panthers

Vladimir Tarasenko – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Loustarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues

Steven Lorentz – Kevin Stenlund – Kyle Okposo

Gustav Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour

Dmitry Kulikov – Uvis Balinskis

Sergei Bobrovsky (Projected)

Lineup Source: Projected

Goalie Source: Projected

Betting Breakdown

If you’re looking for reasons to watch the rest of the way, sports betting (responsibly, of course) can be a fun way to keep your interest.

The Sabres are predictably fairly heavy underdogs to the Panthers, both at the sportsbooks and by the PuckLuck model. Where the model shows an edge is on the Sabres puckline, as a projected low-scoring game can help Buffalo keep things tight.

The moneyline is too similar on both to warrant a wager, and the game total is about the same. Remember in the betting space you make money by playing the odds, meaning exploiting any implied percentages in your favor will be the most profitable in the long run.

For more betting analysis across the NHL, 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.*