by Chuck Sommers
Friday, Nov 04, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
Where to watch: Hulu, ESPN+, SN
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Hurricanes -195, Sabres +165
FanDuel: Hurricanes -205, Sabres +168
BetMGM: Hurricanes -222, Sabres +180
Caesars: Hurricanes -210, Sabres +175
Season record
Sabres: 7-3-0 (14 points)
Hurricanes: 7-2-1 (15 points)
What an electric start to the NHL season. So much parity, so many good teams through the first 10-plus games, you have every right to be excited! Of course the Vegas Golden Knights and Boston Bruins are heading the fun charge here as the top two teams in the league, because of course they are. But never count out the Avalanche, you know they're always going to be hanging around and will be eating worlds once they get everyone healthy. But this is a good time to be playing these hockey games, as well. Look no further than our own Vegas Writer off to a 14-11-0 start over the first 30 days of the NHL season. There's also ASA, Inc. posting a 10-5-1 mark through the first month. You know you can trust our champion handicappers to get you across the finish line with your NHL bets. Check out our Best Bets page at bigal.com to see what we're throwing down!
Sabres - Hurricanes preview, prediction and analysis
Recent results
Sabres: won 6-3 vs. Penguins; won three straight
Hurricanes: won 4-3 (SO) at Lightning; won three straight
There's an Eastern Conference Final joke somewhere here, but man, wouldn't this be fun to this point?
The Buffalo Sabres are one of the league's darlings early on and they are so fun to watch. Can they keep it up? I mean, they've already taken down some of the best teams in the East already. Wanna make another statement? How about the Carolina Hurricanes? On the second night of a back-to-back?
Well, that might be a tough challenge for the Hurricanes. They're coming off a 4-3 shootout victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa, and now they have to come back and face what might be the most dangerous team through 10 games of this season. But, man alive, you put 55 shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy and he saves 52, do you even have enough energy to go against Eric Comrie or Craig Anderson with some travel?
"I just loved the way our guys played all game, just solid top to bottom," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You come in playing these guys and you know that they've got a great goalie and you might have to fire 50 or 60 on him."
The Hurricanes are in a weird position. Not only have they won three in a row, but two in a row via shootout and one more in overtime shows them finding different ways to win. Honestly, that's impressive given the situation, but to do it against Philadelphia, Washington and Tampa Bay is ridiculously good.
You know what else is ridiculously good? The way the Sabres are playing. Because for them to get a couple of wins like that, and then score five in the third period to knock off the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Wednesday. And once again, it was the usual suspects: Victor Olofsson, Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin. Those stars continue to be on a ridiculous pace unlike anything we've ever seen.
"We know they've got a lot of skilled players," Tuch said. "… We didn't get down on ourselves, we didn't slump down and we went out there and tried to respond right away. We were able to have a great come-from-behind-win there, and it showed a lot of guts in this room.
There's an Eastern Conference Final joke somewhere here, but man, wouldn't this be fun to this point?
The Buffalo Sabres are one of the league's darlings early on and they are so fun to watch. Can they keep it up? I mean, they've already taken down some of the best teams in the East already. Wanna make another statement? How about the Carolina Hurricanes? On the second night of a back-to-back?
Well, that might be a tough challenge for the Hurricanes. They're coming off a 4-3 shootout victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa, and now they have to come back and face what might be the most dangerous team through 10 games of this season. But, man alive, you put 55 shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy and he saves 52, do you even have enough energy to go against Eric Comrie or Craig Anderson with some travel?
"I just loved the way our guys played all game, just solid top to bottom," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You come in playing these guys and you know that they've got a great goalie and you might have to fire 50 or 60 on him."
The Hurricanes are in a weird position. Not only have they won three in a row, but two in a row via shootout and one more in overtime shows them finding different ways to win. Honestly, that's impressive given the situation, but to do it against Philadelphia, Washington and Tampa Bay is ridiculously good.
You know what else is ridiculously good? The way the Sabres are playing. Because for them to get a couple of wins like that, and then score five in the third period to knock off the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Wednesday. And once again, it was the usual suspects: Victor Olofsson, Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin. Those stars continue to be on a ridiculous pace unlike anything we've ever seen.
"We know they've got a lot of skilled players," Tuch said. "… We didn't get down on ourselves, we didn't slump down and we went out there and tried to respond right away. We were able to have a great come-from-behind-win there, and it showed a lot of guts in this room.
Prediction
Carolina is getting the short end of the stick here. The Canes are dealing with a lot of travel, despite being at home for this one, getting a surging Buffalo team coming to their barn. The Sabres are just so fun right now, and you never go against the fun team. Sabres win 4-2
Betting trends
Sabres are 8-14 after three straight overs the last three years.
Sabres are 5-11 the last three years following a home win by two goals or more.
Sabres are 9-18 off a home win the last three years.
Hurricanes are 40-16 when playing a second game in five days the last three years.
Hurricanes are 15-8 after three straight games with 33 shots or more on goal the last three years.
Projected lines
Sabres:
Jeff Skinner -- Tage Thompson -- Kyle Okposo
JJ Peterka -- Dylan Cozens -- Alex Tuch
Jack Quinn -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Victor Olofsson
Zemgus Girgensons -- Peyton Krebs -- Rasmus Asplund
Jacob Bryson -- Rasmus Dahlin
Kale Clague -- Owen Power
Lawrence Pilut -- Casey Fitzgerald
Eric Comrie
Jeff Skinner -- Tage Thompson -- Kyle Okposo
JJ Peterka -- Dylan Cozens -- Alex Tuch
Jack Quinn -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Victor Olofsson
Zemgus Girgensons -- Peyton Krebs -- Rasmus Asplund
Jacob Bryson -- Rasmus Dahlin
Kale Clague -- Owen Power
Lawrence Pilut -- Casey Fitzgerald
Eric Comrie
Hurricanes:
Teuvo Teravainen -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Jesper Fast
Stefan Noesen -- Paul Stastny -- Derek Stepan
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Brady Skjei -- Brett Pesce
Dylan Coghlan -- Jalen Chatfield
Frederik Andersen
Teuvo Teravainen -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Jesper Fast
Stefan Noesen -- Paul Stastny -- Derek Stepan
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Brady Skjei -- Brett Pesce
Dylan Coghlan -- Jalen Chatfield
Frederik Andersen
Statistical leaders
Sabres:
Points: Tage Thompson -- 14
Goals: Victor Olofsson -- 8
Assists: Rasmus Dahlin -- 8
Goalie: Craig Anderson -- 3-0-0, 1.66 GAA, .946 SV%
Hurricanes:
Points: Martin Necas -- 14
Goals: Andrei Svechnikov -- 8
Assists: Martin Necas -- 8
Goalie: Frederik Andersen -- 4-2-0, 2.64 GAA, .896 SV%
Don't miss our champion handicappers' free picks and expert hockey picks today. And if you enjoyed this Buffalo Sabres - Carolina Hurricanes prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily NHL projections and previews.
Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
