Sabres Remain Without Tage Thompson Against Ducks

After managing only one goal in Los Angeles, the Buffalo Sabres will have to find a way to muster more offense against the Anaheim Ducks without their leading scorer. Tage Thompson is not expected back in the lineup Friday night, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, despite participating in the morning skate. Thompson was not a part of the line rushes, where Ryan McLeod was centering the top line with JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch yet again.

The Sabres are practicing caution with their premiere forward, who will miss his fourth consecutive game with a lower-body injury. After registering a goal in his fourth straight contest, Thompson left the game on November 11th against the Montreal Canadiens and did not return. Buffalo is 2-1-0 in the games he has missed.

Where to Watch

Gametime: 10:00 p.m. ET

Location: Honda Center (Anaheim, CA)

TV: MSG; SN; TVAS, Victory+, KCOP-13

Stream: Gotham Sports; ESPN+ (Out of market)

Radio: WGR550

Sabres Gameday

The Sabres rode the coattails of goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to victory on Wednesday, and he will get the start against the Ducks. Luukkonen has won his last four decisions, with one start in between, playing injured against the Montreal Canadiens, resulting in a no-decision as he left the game after the second period.

While the Finnish netminder shutting out the Los Angeles Kings was partially a result of low-event hockey, the Sabres should be able to muster more goal support versus the Ducks. Anaheim is giving up the most shots on goal per game in the NHL, averaging over 34 shots against. Per Evolving-Hockey, the Ducks are also surrendering the highest expected goals against per game in the league, at 3.94. Their goalies have been good, but this is a prime opportunity for the Sabres to generate more offense.

Anaheim Ducks

The outstanding goaltending from Anaheim has mostly been attributed to Lukas Dostal, who leads the NHL in goals-saved above expected per Evolving-Hockey at 17.21. Dostal will give way to incumbent starter John Gibson who has been average in three starts this season.

Third-year forward Mason McTavish will not play for the Ducks, but the roster is full of young talent. Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras, Cutter Gauthier, Olen Zellweger, Jackson LaCombe, and Pavel Mintyukov all play pivotal roles for the club at 23 years of age or younger.

The Ducks sit in second-last place in the Pacific Division but have only one less point than the Sabres in one less game.

Injury Report

Buffalo Sabres

• Tage Thompson (Lower Body) Day-to-day [IR]
• Jordan Greenway (Undisclosed) Week-to-week
• Mattias Samuelsson (Lower Body) Week-to-week [IR]

Anaheim Ducks

• Mason McTavish (Upper Body) Out [IR]
• Urho Vaakanainen (Upper Body) Day-to-day
• Brock McGinn (Lower Body) Day-to-day
• Cam Fowler (Upper Body) Out [IR]
• Robby Fabbri (Knee) Out [IR]

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards (Confirmed)

JJ Peterka – Ryan McLeod – Alex Tuch

Zach Benson – Dylan Cozens – Sam Lafferty

Jason Zucker – Jiri Kulich – Jack Quinn

Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Defense (Confirmed)

Rasmus Dahlin – Bowen Byram

Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju

Jacob Bryson – Connor Clifton

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Source: Lance Lysowski, The Buffalo News

Anaheim Ducks

Forwards (Projected)

Trevor Zegras – Leo Carlsson – Alex Killorn

Frank Vatrano – Ryan Strome – Troy Terry

Cutter Gauthier – Isac Lundestrom – Brett Leason

Ross Johnston – Jansen Harkins – Sam Colangelo

Defense (Projected)

Olen Zellweger – Jackson LaCombe

Pavel Mintyukov – Radko Gudas

Brian Dumoulin – Drew Helleson

Goalie (Confirmed)

John Gibson

Betting Breakdown

The sportsbooks heavily favor the Buffalo Sabres over the Anaheim Ducks tonight at around -175. The line implies the Sabres have a 63%-64% chance of winning, while the PuckLuck model is less optimistic without Tage Thompson in the lineup.

This puts the betting edge on the Ducks, albeit slightly. There is a lot of uncertainty still surrounding the young players in Anaheim’s lineup, which gives us less confidence in a moneyline play. The Ducks’ puckline at -195 getting a goal and a half is a value, but not all that appealing of a payout.

If you’d like to explore the prop market, PuckLuck lists Ryan McLeod to score at +200 today with his bump up to the top line. That’s a huge value buy at most sportsbooks listing his anytime goal prop bet.

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.*