Key Sabres Forward to Sit Out Versus Stars

The Buffalo Sabres will likely be without second-year forward Zach Benson to face the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. The Sabres return home after a 1-1-1 road trip and sit 24th in the NHL standings after seven games. The Dallas Stars are 5-1-0 through six games, good for third in the entire league.

Benson has been playing through a lower-body injury and has only missed one game. He played almost out of necessity against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday with Jordan Greenway missing the contest thanks to a lower-body injury himself. Greenway is expected to play in his regular third-line wing spot alongside Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker.

Where to Watch

Gametime: 7:00 p.m. ET

Location: KeyBank Center (Buffalo, NY)

TV: MSG

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

Radio: WGR550

Sabres Gameday

The Sabres were carried on Saturday by the top line of JJ Peterka, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch. They are still searching for another line to become a secondary scoring threat.

Benson, who started on Buffalo’s second line, will not play and has zero points in six games. Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn are second-line staples and have two and one points, respectively. Jiri Kulich has been a bit of a revelation for the Sabres early in the season but only has one point in five games.

To become true playoff contenders, the Sabres will need help from Kulich, Cozens, and Quinn in the box score. That will allow McLeod’s line to focus on shutting down the top opponents and the fourth line to chip in as needed.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played well Saturday in Chicago and is expected to get the start.

More Sabres: 3 Takeaways from Sabres Win Over Blackhawks

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars have had some key recent absences from the lineup in Tyler Seguin, Matt Dumba, and Sam Steel. All three are expected to return to the Stars lineup versus the Sabres. With young players like Logan Stankoven, Wyatt Johnston, Mavrik Bourque, and Thomas Harley able to step up and fill big roles, the Stars haven’t missed a beat.

Stankoven in particular has been on fire to begin the season. He has seven assists in six games, mostly in a complementary role alongside Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. He recently shifted to playing with Bourque and team captain Jamie Benn and recorded two assists in their last outing against the Edmonton Oilers.

Per Mike Heika of DallasStars.com, Jake Oettinger will get the start for the Stars against the Sabres.

Injury Report

Buffalo Sabres

• Zach Benson (Lower Body) Day-to-day
• Jordan Greenway (Lower Body) Day-to-day
• Nicolas Aube-Kubel (Lower Body) 3-6 weeks [IR]

Dallas Stars

• None

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards (Projected)

JJ Peterka – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch

Jiri Kulich – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn

Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jordan Greenway

Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Sam Lafferty

Defense (Projected)

Rasmus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju

Owen Power – Bowen Byram

Mattias Samuelsson – Connor Clifton

Goalies (Confirmed)

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Source: Bill Hoppe, Times-Herald

Dallas Stars

Forwards (Projected)

Jason Robertson – Roope Hintz – Wyatt Johnston

Mason Marchment – Matt Duchene – Tyler Seguin

Jamie Benn – Mavrik Bourque – Logan Stankoven

Evgeny Dadonov – Sam Steel – Colin Blackwell

Defense (Projected)

Miro Heiskanen – Matt Dumba

Thomas Harley – Ilya Lyubushkin

Esa Lindell – Nils Lundkvist

Goalies (Confirmed)

Jake Oettinger

Source: Mike Heika, Dallas Stars

Betting Breakdown

The sportsbooks and PuckLuck both have the Stars as big favorites over the Sabres, at about a 60% chance of winning. Due to the vig, you’re not getting a good buy on the Sabres side either, with Buffalo implied from the sportsbooks at 44% and PuckLuck at 40%.

For the second straight game, the over is intriguing. PuckLuck projects 6.25 goals in the game and the sportsbooks list the over/under at six goals. There’s not much of a betting edge there, but with the way Buffalo has been scoring and giving up goals recently, it’s easy to see how they could get there.

If you’re not already signed up, here are a couple of places offering exclusive deals through Buffalo Hockey Now:

Fanatics: https://fanatics.onelink.me/5kut/1v32imkp

(Up to $1000 back.)

MGM: https://mediaserver.betmgmpartners.com/renderBanner.do?zoneId=1714117

(Up to $1,500 back.)

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.*