NHL Hockey Betting: New Jersey Devils at Buffalo Sabres
Eastern Conference hockey action on Saturday night as the somewhat surprising New Jersey Devils travel to upstate New York to take on the upstart Buffalo Sabres with their sensational rookie, Jack Eichel. The Devils were expected to be one of the worst teams in the league though so far they have been solid, if not spectacular. They have managed to scrap to a 3-3-1 record good for fifth place in the Metropolitan Division. After starting the season 0-3-1 they have now won three straight to even their record. Buffalo is still in last place in the Atlantic Division at 2-5-0 for 4 points. They’ve got a long road ahead though they finally have some positive momentum in the franchise.
The New Jersey Devils may not be a good team but they more often than not give forth a good effort. Despite their 0-3-1 start against a brutal level of opposition (Washington, Winnipeg, Nashville, San Jose) they gave a good account of themselves throughout this stretch. They didn’t lose any of these games by more than two goals and allowed more than 3 goals only once in this stretch. In fact, they’ve only allowed more than three goals twice this year, most recently in a 5-4 win over Ottawa. Corey Schnieder has been excellent in goal and is the foundation of what the Devils do. They’ve been getting great work from a patchwork lineup of youngsters and veterans–guys like Mike Cammalleri and Steven Gionta might be ‘over the hill’ but their effort has been very solid this year.
The Sabres are clearly a ‘work in progress’. They’ll be even more of one tonight as they give Linus Ullmark his first NHL start in goal. Ullmark was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League earlier this week. The 22 year old native of Lungvik, Sweden has never played in North America before this season and will take another huge competitive step tonight. The Sabres have done their best work at home this season but with an unproven goalie between the pipes and facing a plucky New Jersey team in good form it’s hard to make a case for them here. We’ll back the Devils.
BET NEW JERSEY DEVILS -120 OVER BUFFALO SABRES