Kraken Have Big Edge Over Sabres

Sabres vs. Kraken, 4:00 ET

I was able to hit another hockey bet last week as it was easily the best week I've had in sports betting for 2025, and honestly, it will be pretty hard to top as I feel like we lost very few games. College Basketball was great last week, so was hockey, and even football went fairly well, hitting a Jahmyr Gibbs first touchdown prop at +425 that I gave out on Geoff Clark's Outkick Bets podcast. Now we are back for another week of sports betting. Tonight the Sabres take on the Kraken and I'm looking to take down the books once again.

The Sabres are a team that I bet against recently and it worked out. Perhaps I shouldn't phrase it that I bet against them, I took them as part of an over and they contributed two goals of the seven that cashed the play. It was actually interesting that they allowed the Penguins goalie to do something that was never done before. In that game, Alex Nedeljkovic scored a goal and had an assist on a goal, becoming the first goalie ever to do so. He also had 40 saves. The Sabres aren't a terrible team, they aren't going to make the playoffs, but I at least think they are reasonably competitive with a 17-23-5 record. They've also got a respectable 8-11-2 record away from home. Their defense isn't great as they are allowing 3.38 goals per game to opponents on 29 shots. They are scoring around three goals per game themselves on 27 shots. Never a good sign to let your opponent out shoot you. The expectation is that Devon Levi will be in the net tonight for the Sabres. He has a 2-6-0 record and is allowing almost four goals per game to opponents. His save percentage is just at .876, so my confidence level is not high for the Sabres stopping anyone.

Oct 19, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA;  Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) and center Jiri Kulich (20) hug after the third period against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The only good news for the Sabres is that they are playing a rather average team in the Kraken. For the season, the Kraken are 20-24-3 and just 10-10-3 when defending their home ice. They are 3-2 over their past five games, alternating wins and losses. In their wins, they have scored at least four goals, and in their past two losses, they've only mustered three total goals. They faced the Sabres once this season, it was a road game, and they were able to win that game 6-2. The Kraken are averaging just 2.89 goals per game, which is a bit low, but I think reasonable. They are also allowing 3.15 goals per game and their opponents are taking roughly two more shots per game than themselves. It looks like they will have Joey Daccord in between the pipes tonight and that gives a good reason to trust the Kraken. Daccord has a strong 15-10-2 record, but he is allowing just 2.44 goals against per game this season, and has a strong .916 save percentage.

I am a bit surprised that the total is just at 5.5. Neither of these teams are very good at stopping their opponent, so I wouldn't be all that shocked if we saw them go over that number. I feel confident though that the Kraken will win this game. They have a significantly better goalie and I think they are going to coast in this one. I'm going to bet a full unit on the Kraken to win at -125, but I'll also sprinkle on the over 5.5 as I think it should be at the normal 6 or 6.5. 

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024