Back Bruins To Take Down Sabres

Sabres vs. Bruins, 7:00 ET

For about the past week or so I've been doing almost nothing but write about College Basketball. I love it, and now we are rapidly approaching the end of those betting opportunities with the NCAA Tournament set. While it has been a great season on the hardwood, I've done really well on the ice too. I'm back here to get another shot at it as we anxiously await the return to College Basketball. The NHL will bring us some great opportunities though and we have one here as the Sabres take on the Bruins. 

The Sabres come into the game with a 26-33-6 record for the season, but they have been abysmal on the road this season with a record of just 9-19-3 when they are away from Buffalo. I'm not really sure why they struggle so badly on the road, but it does give us an opportunity to fade them in these situations. For the year, Buffalo is averaging 3.12 goals per game, but they are allowing 3.52 goals against. It doesn't seem that out of line considering they are allowing about one more shot to opponents each game than they are taking. Over the past five games, the Sabres have played to a 2-3 record. Most interesting about those five games is that all three of the losses have come on the road. They've allowed opponents at least four goals in each of those games as well. Tonight, they are expected to have Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the net. He is sitting with a 22-21-4 record and allowing 3.19 goals against per game and has a .888 save percentage. For a starting goalie, those numbers are pretty unimpressive and in the second half of goaltenders in the league. He has, however, beaten the Bruins once before this season. 

The Buffalo Sabres became the first team in decades to score a goal in a period without registering a shot. (Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)

The Bruins set the mark for the best record in the league a few years ago. Now they've traded away one of the faces of their franchise and they are now struggling to a 30-30-8 record. With just 14 games remaining, they won't be making the playoffs, and have a bunch of questions to try and answer this offseason. The one place that the Bruins have been reliable is at home with a 19-12-5 record for the year. Similarly to the Sabres, they are allowing about a half goal more per game than they are scoring. It isn't very surprising as they are allowing more shots to their opponents in each game than they are taking. They are also not playing great hockey at the moment with a 2-3 record as well. They have allowed six goals in each of the past two games. Tonight, they expect to have Jeremy Swayman in-between the pipes. Swayman is 20-23-6 for the year and is allowing 3.00 goals per game to opponents. He also has a .897 save percentage. He didn't do well in the first game against the Sabres as he allowed six goals. 

This is a situation where the Bruins are looking for revenge.  They lost the first matchup between the two squads. The road record of the Sabres and the home record of the Bruins also would indicate that this is a prime opportunity for Boston. Both goalies aren't playing very well. Both teams are not playing very well, but I think the better team in this one is the Bruins. I'll back them on the moneyline. You want one last reason? It is St. Patrick's Day which is like a sacred holiday in Boston. 

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