Islanders vs. Sabres Odds
| Islanders Odds | +100 |
| Sabres Odds | -120 |
| Over / Under | 6.5 +124 / -108 |
Looking for their second win of the year, the Buffalo Sabres (1-3-0) will be the better-rested squad on Saturday, when the New York Islanders come to town.
The Islanders (2-0-1) dropped their first game of the season in overtime on Friday, a 5-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
Ilya Sorokin played Friday's full game at UBS Arena, which means Semyon Varlamov should make his first start of the year in Buffalo on Saturday.
With a question mark in the Buffalo net, fans could see more goals than they might expect in this one.
Read on for your best bet for the game.
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders have returned virtually unchanged from last year, after getting as far as the first round of the playoffs in Lane Lambert's first season behind the bench. With just three games in the books, they've started pretty well — collecting five of six possible points.
Heading into Friday's contest, the Islanders had played two typical low-scoring affairs in front of Sorokin, beating the Sabres 3-2 in their opener on home ice, then shutting out the Arizona Coyotes 1-0.
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On Friday, a strong third period gave them the 60-minute edge against the Devils in expected goals at 5-on-5 as they came from behind to force overtime. But New Jersey was able to take control of the game thanks to a 4-for-5 performance on the power play and a 39-32 overall edge in shots, and Jack Hughes finished off a four-point night with the overtime winner at 2:19 of 3-on-3 overtime.
Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson were strong offensively for the Islanders, with two goals apiece.
Other than Scott Mayfield, who's listed as day-to-day with a leg injury, the Islanders are basically healthy. And despite all the special-teams play on Friday, Lambert did a reasonably good job of keeping his team's workload relatively balanced, with the exception of top defensemen Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson, who each logged more than 26 minutes.
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres have been all in on 21-year-old rookie Devon Levi in net this season. Levi impressed in a seven-game audition last spring. He has been a little weaker out of the gate this year, with an .894 save percentage and -1.2 goals saved above expected through four games.
Levi and rookie forward Zach Benson also both missed practice on Friday and are currently considered day-to-day with lower-body injuries.
If Levi can't go on Saturday, the Sabres could tap either Eric Comrie or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the start. They're both still on the main roster but haven't seen action since pre-season, where Comrie put up the better numbers.
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As for Benson, the 18-year-old led the Sabres in the preseason with seven points in six games and impressed coach Don Granato with his two-way acumen. He had two assists in the team's first four regular-season games.
Loaded with young talent, the Sabres are now expected to take the next step and start collecting enough wins to snag a playoff spot at the end of the season. But they haven't delivered on that promise so far. Sitting 31st heading into Saturday's game, they're been outscored 14-9 and are controlling just 43.31% of expected goals at 5-on-5. And while they've managed just one power-play goal so far, in their opener, they've also surrendered just one goal while shorthanded.
Not surprisingly, Granato shuffled his lines at practice on Friday, looking for more offense and better cohesiveness in his group.
Islanders vs. Sabres
Betting Pick & Prediction
Whenever the Islanders are involved, there's always a temptation for bettors to look at the Under. Last season, after all, they had the fifth-lowest goals allowed and were 11th-lowest in goals scored — an old-school recipe that still got them into the playoffs.
Friday's five goals against skews their season-to-date averages considerably. There were the four power-play goals allowed, and despite the fact that the Devils controlled play through the first 40 minutes, they still couldn't find a way to beat Sorokin.
Varlamov doesn't provide quite the same sense of security. And despite signing a new four-year contract extension over the summer, his pre-season performance was a grim 1-2-0 with a 4.50 goals-against average and .862 save percentage.
Well-rested and with a couple more weeks of practice under his belt, Varlamov could be ready to shut the door when he gets into action on Saturday. And we don't know who the Sabres will be starting as Levi nurses his injury.
It all adds up to a game that could be higher-scoring that you might think.
As of Friday night, BetMGM is offering -110 odds for a total of over 6.0. Grab that if you can, and watch these teams score some goals.
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Pick: Over 6.0 (-110); play down to -125 or look for Over 6.5 at +110 or more
