Islanders vs Sabres Prediction

pickdawgz.com

21 October 2023

The New York Islanders will play the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. New York is coming off of an overtime loss last night, while Buffalo has lost three out of four to start the season.

Islanders Preview

The New York Islanders are 2-0-1 this season after they lost to the New Jersey Devils by a score of 5-4 in overtime on Friday. New York led 1-0 in the first period and they were able to tie the game at four with about a minute left, before losing in overtime. The Islanders were out shot by a total of 39-32 and allowed four power play goals in the loss. New York started their season by winning two games against the Coyotes and the Sabres. The New York Islanders are scoring 2.67 goals per game and they are allowing 2.33 goals against per game, while going 16.7% on the power play and 100% on the penalty kill coming into Friday’s game. Brock Nelson has led the Islanders this season with one goal, one assist, and seven shots on goal. The projected starting goalie for New York is Semyon Varlamov, who is making his first appearance of the season.

Sabres Preview

The Buffalo Sabres are 1-3-0 this year after they lost to the Calgary Flames by a score of 4-3 in their last game. Buffalo was tied at 2 after the first period, but they were only able to find the back of the net one more time for the loss. The Sabres were out shot by a total of 36-27 and went 1-5 on the power play. Buffalo’s lone win came against the Lightning at home in their third game. The Buffalo Sabres are scoring 2.25 goals per game and they are allowing 3.50 goals against per game, while going 7.7% on the power play and 93.8% on the penalty kill. Rasmus Dahlin has led the Sabres with four assists and 13 shots on goal this year. The projected starting goalie for Buffalo is Devon Levi, who is 1-3-0 this season with a 3.26 goals against average and a .892 save percentage.

Buffalo Sabres Team Facts

The underdogs have won four of the last five games between the Islanders and Sabres at KeyBank Center.
The Sabres have covered the puck line in each of their last nine Saturday night games.
The 'Over 1.5 Goals Period 1' market has hit in each of the Sabres' last four games.
The Sabres have won the third period in each of their last five games as favorites against Metropolitan Division opponents.

New York Islanders Team Facts

The Islanders have lost each of their last five games at KeyBank Center.
The Islanders have failed to cover the puck line in 12 of their last 13 night games after coming off overtime.
The 'Over 1.5 Goals Period 2' market has hit in 11 of the Islanders' last 12 games as underdogs against Atlantic Division opponents.
The Islanders have lost the third period in each of their last four night games at KeyBank Center.

Buffalo Sabres Player Prop Facts

Victor Olofsson has scored at least one goal in three of his last four appearances with the Sabres as favorites against Eastern Conference opponents.
Alex Tuch has recorded at least one point in 12 of his last 13 appearances with the Sabres as favorites.
Rasmus Dahlin has recorded at least one assist in six of his last seven appearances with the Sabres as home favorites.
Tage Thompson has recorded two hits against the Islanders this season - most against any opponent.

New York Islanders Player Prop Facts

Brock Nelson has scored at least one goal in each of the Islanders' last three games against Atlantic Division opponents.
Bo Horvat has recorded at least one point in each of his last four appearances with his team as an underdog against the Sabres.
Bo Horvat has recorded at least one assist in five of his six previous appearances with his team as an underdog against the Sabres.
Bo Horvat has recorded two hits against the Sabres this season - most against any opponent.

Matchup/League Facts

The Buffalo Sabres ranks 26th in the league for goals per game this season (2.25).
The Buffalo Sabres ranks T1st in the league for power play goals against this season (1).
The New York Islanders ranks T1st in the league in short handed goals allowed this season (0).
The New York Islanders ranks T2nd in the league for shots against per game this season (27.0).

Pick

The Islanders were given their first loss on Friday night against a solid New Jersey team, but it was nice to see New York score some goals in the game, after scoring four goals in the first two games. Buffalo has started the season playing very poorly and they have scored three goals or fewer in all four games. The Islanders did defeat Buffalo in their first meeting this season by a score of 3-2. I usually don’t love teams that are on the second night of a back to back, but I am going with the Islanders here. I don’t like what I have seen from Buffalo to start the season, so I am going to fade them here.