Sabres vs. Rangers Puck Line Pick for Tuesday (4/27)

The Buffalo Sabres have been one of the least successful teams in the NHL in recent seasons, and that has not changed this year. They have little choice but to “rebuild” for the future.

They have been showing some signs of life lately, but lack of personnel is going to plague them. That is a fact of life.

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Their captain, Jack Eichel, is out of action. And they’ve traded Taylor Hall to the Boston Bruins. They have also been dealing with another injury to goaltender Linus Ullmark.

So can they make a good account of themselves in a rematch against the New York Rangers on Tuesday? We have a strong opinion on what you should do with this game to cash a ticket.

The festivities get underway at Madison Square Garden at 7:08 PM ET.

Here is the setup:

Buffalo Sabres vs. New York Rangers Preview

Sabres vs. Rangers Picks

When: 7:08 PM ET (Tuesday)

NHL Betting Lines

Money Line: Rangers -300 / Sabres +240

Total: Over 6 Goals -117 / Under 6 Goals -103

Puck Line: Rangers -1.5 Goals (-125) / Sabres +1.5 (+105)

Buffalo has a record of 13-29-7, but that might be a bit deceiving as they are 7-6-2 over their last fifteen contests. It is extremely important they are able to get off to a good start. This team is a dismal 3-19 when trailing at the first intermission. And they have been outscored 46-30 in first period action.

The Rangers got off to a nice lead on Sunday, and rambled to a 6-3 victory. Mika Zibanejad had his third hat trick of the season – that’s more than anyone else in the NHL. Zac Jones, a rookie they love, got the first point of his NHL career, assisting on one of two goals from Kaapo Kakko, who was the second pick in the 2019 NHL draft.

And as we’re talking about rookies, Igor Shesterkin has been rather impressive among goaltenders. The 25-year-old has had a save percentage of .900 or better in 20 of his 27 starts, which is the highest percentage of .900-plus efforts of any first-year goalies who have made at least ten starts.

The questions we have revolve around the situation in Buffalo’s goal. Linus Ullmark was the guy who helped this team stay competitive, and when he was out of the lineup it brought on a franchise-record losing streak. Now Ullmark’s out again, having been removed in an April 13 game, and while Dustin Tokarski has had his moments, he is not going to be part of the Sabres’ rebuilding program. He stopped only 23 of 28 shots the other night, and his 3.38 goals-against leaves something to be desired.

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We have talked before about how formidable the New York Islanders have been at home. Well, the Rangers have been a headache to deal with at Madison Square Garden lately; they have won eight of their last ten games on their home ice, outscoring the opposition by a margin of 51-24.

There is absolutely no room to relax for these Rangers. They are 25-18-6 and trail fourth-place Boston by four points in the East. So at the risk of using a cliche, every game is critical for them. Offensively, they’ve got some fuel, as they possess the second best power play in the NFL over the last 25 days.

Although we’re not crazy with that price on the Rangers, we don’t have confidence in the Sabres with Tokarski in goal. The best thing for us to do is turn to the puck line, and if Buffalo continues its pattern of getting off to slow starts, there is always that empty net chance at the end (which the Rangers took advantage of the other night).

The Play: NY RANGERS -1.5 Goals (-125)