{"id":488833,"date":"2026-04-19T09:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=488833"},"modified":"2026-04-19T09:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:48:14","slug":"nhl-predictions-boston-bruins-vs-buffalo-sabres-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/04\/19\/nhl-predictions-boston-bruins-vs-buffalo-sabres-game-1\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Boston Bruins vs Buffalo Sabres, Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0<\/span>Last Word On Hockey<\/em>\u00a0look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. Our featured game of this edition is the Boston Bruins taking on the Buffalo Sabres. Be sure to\u00a0<\/span>check out more\u00a0NHL Predictions<\/a>, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2025-26 Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

Boston Bruins vs Buffalo Sabres<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Regular Season Head-to-Head: Bruins 3-1 Sabres<\/h3>\n

How to Watch<\/a>:\u00a0<\/span>US TV:\u00a0<\/span>ESPN; NESN; MSG Buffalo; ESPN+<\/span>. Canada TV: SN1; SN360; TVA Sports 2.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Time:<\/strong> 7:30 p<\/span>.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n

We open up NHL predictions with the featured game<\/a> between the Boston Bruins<\/a> and the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>. Jeremy Swayman<\/a> is the likely starter for this game but always check social media before locking in a daily fantasy starter. The Bruins are coming into this game with a 5-3-2 mark to end the regular season. However, Boston did beat the New Jersey Devils<\/a> to end the campaign. David Pastrnak<\/a> hit the 100-point mark for the Bruins.<\/p>\n

Buffalo is back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2010-11. The Sabres also won their first Atlantic Division title since 2010 to stun the hockey world. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen<\/a> is the projected starter for the Sabres, who are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. However, Buffalo ended the regular season with a loss to the Dallas Stars.<\/a> Tage Thompson<\/a> led the way in goals (40), assists (41), and points (81) for the Sabres.<\/span><\/p>\n

Boston did beat Buffalo three out of four times in the regular season. However, the KeyBank Center will be rocking and the Sabres should get the win.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Sabres win 3-2.<\/p>\n

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(Credit Image: \u00a9 Peter Joneleit\/Cal Sport Media)<\/span><\/p>\n

Utah Mammoth vs Vegas Golden Knights<\/h2>\n

Regular Season Head-to-Head: Mammoth 2-1 Golden Knights<\/h3>\n

How to Watch<\/a>:\u00a0<\/span>US TV:\u00a0<\/span>ESPN; Scripps Vegas; Utah16; ESPN+<\/span>. Canada TV: CBC; Sportsnet; TVA Sports.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Time:<\/strong> 10 p<\/span>.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n

Our second and final game of this set of NHL predictions has the Utah Mammoth<\/a> taking on the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>. This will be the first postseason game for Utah in its franchise history. Karel Vejmelka<\/a> is the projected starter for the Mammoth and has shouldered plenty of the workload this season. Captain Clayton Keller<\/a> leads the club in assists (62) and points (88) for Utah.<\/span><\/p>\n

The controversial Carter Hart<\/a> is the expected starter for the Golden Knights, who are 7-0-3 in the last 10 regular season games. This includes victories in seven of the team’s last eight games. The late-season coaching change to John Tortorella seems to have given the team some momentum going into the postseason. Jack Eichel<\/a> leads the team in assists (63) and points (90).<\/p>\n

Vegas has seemingly righted the ship after the firing of Bruce Cassidy<\/a> near the end of the season. The Golden Knights should win this game despite the Mammoth winning the last two meetings of the season between the two clubs.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Golden Knights win 4-2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Bets<\/h3>\n

We close out NHL predictions with some prop bets of the night. Let’s go back to our featured game of NHL predictions with some prop bets of the night. The over\/under for the Sabres versus the Bruins is 6.5, and we like the under in this game.<\/p>\n

As far as individual props go, take Morgan Geekie<\/a> to score for Boston. On the Buffalo end of things, go with Alex Tuch<\/a> to net a goal.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0Last Word On Hockey\u00a0look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. Our featured game of this edition is the Boston Bruins taking on the Buffalo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":488836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,5,3,4547,4548],"tags":[8285,6081,6254,8231,6019],"class_list":["post-488833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-bruins","category-sabres","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs","tag-boston-bruins-predictions","tag-buffalo-sabres-predictions","tag-utah-mammoth-predictions","tag-vegas-golden-knights-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488833"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":488838,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488833\/revisions\/488838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}