The Buffalo Sabres have missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons, but the young club has exceeded expectations and then some through 18 games this year and possesses a 10-6-2 SU record to prove it. The Sabres travel north of the border on Friday to do battle with the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place. Sportsbooks opened the Jets as -215 home favorites with a total of 6.
- The Sabres are 2-7 SU in their last nine games on the road vs the Jets.
- The total has gone OVER in five of the Sabres’ last seven games on the road (avg. combined score: 6.86).
- The Sabres are 0-8 SU in their last eight games on a three-game SU winning streak.
Jets are rounding into their dominant form
Buffalo is riding a three-game winning streak and begins a three-game road trip that features back-to-back contests vs the Jets and Minnesota this weekend. Fresh off a huge 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Tuesday, the Sabres are certainly not lacking confidence right now. Jeff Skinner scored his 13th goal of the campaign in that game and has seven tallies to go along with one assist in his past six.
The Jets are finally looking like the team that went all the way to the Western Conference final a year ago, as Winnipeg has won three in a row and eight of its past 11 games following Wednesday’s 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Forward Blake Wheeler extended his point streak to 11 games with an assist in the game, and has 18 assists and a plus-8 rating during that span.
Four-game winning streaks are hard to come by for the Sabres
How rare is it for the Sabres to win four games in a row? Buffalo hasn’t rattled off four consecutive wins since December 2014. The Sabres’ mettle will be tested going forward, as the squad has six games in the next nine days, including a visit to Pittsburgh on Monday after the weekend back-to-back.
When it comes to the total, the OVER is trending in this series. In the past three matchups between the Sabres and Jets, the OVER is 3-0, with an average combined score of 8.3 goals. The OVER is also 5-2 in the Sabres’ previous seven road games, with an average combined score of 6.9 goals.
Jets turn to backup Brossoit between the pipes
Laurent Brossoit is expected to get the start for the Jets in the crease tonight. Brossoit (3-0-0, 1.67 goals-against average, .957 save percentage) allowed one goal on 28 shots in the Jets’ win over Detroit on October 26 but hasn’t played since. As of this writing, the Sabres had yet to announce a starting goaltender, but we’ll update the preview when it happens.
