Welcome back to the return of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play in. We also have a featured game of the day, which is considered must-watch TV. Today’s featured game is the Buffalo Sabres vs New Jersey Devils. Be sure to check out more NHL predictions in the coming days as the 2024-25 season starts.
NHL Predictions
Buffalo Sabres vs New Jersey Devils
Head-to-Head: Sabres 0-1 Devils
Time: 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
TV: NHL Network; Sportsnet
The NHL seasons is off-and-running and the Devils got the hint. New Jersey rolled past Buffalo, 4-1, on Friday. Stefan Noesen scored the first goal of the season. Johnathan Kovacevic and Paul Cotter each joined Noesen in getting a goal and an assist for the Devils. Jacob Markstrom may have made a save of the year candidate in a 30-save effort for the Devils.
Owen Power scored to prevent a shutout, but it was a bad day all the way around for the Sabres. New Jersey was able to in behind the Buffalo defence and got plenty of scoring chance. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 19 saves, but had a rough first start of the season.
It’s a quick turnaround time as the final game of the NHL Global Series with the early start time. Let’s get into this round of NHL predictions for the second game of the regular season in Czechia.
The Sabres Story
Lindy Ruff‘s return to the bench was not ideal. The Sabres defence struggled and gave the Devils plenty of space to operate. Things did get better in the third period. However, there’s a lot of work to do for this team.
Devon Levi is the likely starter with this being the second game in as many days. However, always check social media before locking in a daily fantasy starter.
The Devils
The first game of Sheldon Keefe‘s tenure behind the Devils bench was great. New Jersey got contributions from a number of sources as it breezed to a season-opening win. Many thought names like Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier would get the lion’s share of points. However, it was the depth pieces that got the goals.
Jake Allen will likely get the call for the Devils in between the pipes. He’ll be hard-pressed to beat Markstrom’s performance in the opener.
Prediction
Buffalo needs a wake-up call and it’ll come out fired up. However, New Jersey seems to be a better team on paper. The lineup changes made by Tom Fitzgerald in the off-season seemingly did well. However, it is one game and there are 81 more left in the regular season.
Still, the Devils should complete the sweep and leave Europe with a pair of victories.
Prediction: Devils win 4-2.
Prop Bets of the Night
We’ve got some prop bets to go with the rest of the game action. The over/under according to Fanduel is 6.5 and we got the number right on that one Friday. However, we want to do a bit better when it comes to player props. Multiple locations have the Devils giving 1.5 goals. This seems like a strong play for the second game of the season.
We’ll take Hischier at +185 on power-play points for New Jersey. On the Buffalo side, go with Tage Thompson at either +1200 for first goal of the game or +150 any time scorer.
That’s it for today’s NHL predictions. We’ll back on Tuesday for games that count for real as the preseason wraps up on Monday.
Main photo by: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
