Wild vs Sabres Predictions, Picks & Lineups for Saturday Afternoon Hockey

• The surging Buffalo Sabres are -130 moneyline favorites as they host the Minnesota Wild Saturday
• The Wild hit the road after a winless three-game homestand
• See my Wild vs Sabres prediction, plus the latest odds and projected lineups below

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After getting booed off the ice to complete an ugly three-game homestand, it’s going to be awfully tough for the Minnesota Wild (26-13-9) to get right when they visit the Buffalo Sabres (26-16-4) on Saturday afternoon.

No team is hotter than the Sabres, who have ripped off 15 wins in the last 17 games. They enter as -130 moneyline favorites in the latest NHL odds. And yet, I’m going to sidestep that market and target the total for my best bet.

Puck drop is set for 12:30pm ET from KeyBank Center, in Buffalo, NY, with NHL Network and MSG Buffalo providing the broadcast coverage.

Keep reading for my Wild vs Sabres prediction, along with the latest odds and projected lineups.

Wild vs Sabres Prediction

These are two of the most prolific scoring teams over the last five weeks, so I’m taking Over 5.5 goals as my favorite Wild vs Sabres prediction. During the Sabres’ current fun run, they’re third in the NHL in scoring, potting 3.76 goals per game.

Since their 10-game win streak was snapped, the Sabres have won five of the last six, and have scored at least five goals in every win, while combining to score at least seven goals in every game.

The Wild have seen the Over cash in seven of their last eight, thought they’ve been on the beating end of most of that action while going just 2-3-2.

Minnesota has allowed at least four goals in every loss, and they’ve combined with their opponent to touch the seven-goal plateau six times over that span.

It was a rough one for Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt in a 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the lowly Winnipeg Jets, getting shelled for six goals on just 20 shots, mercifully pulled for Filip Gustavsson to start the final period.

Whoever steps in net will have to deal with a Buffalo lineup that features a streaking Tage Thompson, who’s coming off a 5-point game in a 5-3 whipping of Montreal, including his ninth career hat-trick. Thompson has scored in six straight games, with seven goals and eight assists.

MIN vs BUF: 5-vs-5 Stats

While the Wild have slipped in GAA from a tie for seventh best to outside the Top 10 at 2.94, the Sabres have seemed to figure out their net woes, and that’s been a big part of their success of late.

A team GAA of 2.35 during their streak puts them second in the NHL behind only the Colorado Avalanche, and they’ve allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of their last 17 games.

Despite their recent woes, the Wild are still able to score goals ranking sixth behind Buffalo at 3.61 per game. That makes the recent head-to-head stats hard to go on — with the Under connecting in six straight meetings, including a 3-2 Minnesota win on Nov 29.

Part of the reason the Wild are ranked eighth in the latest Stanley Cup odds is because they boast one of the top scoring duos in hockey, featuring two players inside the league’s Top 20 — though one part of that duo, leading goalscorer Matt Boldy, won’t be available Saturday (more on that below).

Still, Kirill Kaprizov leads the way with 25 goals and a team-best 52 points to rank 15th in the league.

Add it all up, and there should be enough offensive fireworks at KeyBank.

Wild vs Sabres Odds

Over bettors are best to find their way to FanDuel, where they can find the total at 5.5 goals, while Under bettors should head over to DraftKings, where they’ll get a full goal more, at 6.5.

Taking the Wild to win outright? You can get +110 odds at bet365, but you’ll get just -225 odds to get 1.5 goals on the spread.

Buffalo is netting -128 odds as the favorite on the moneyline, and is laying 1.5 on the goal line at +205 odds.

Odds as of Jan. 16th at Caesars. Check out SBD’s Caesars Sportsbook review to see the available sign-up bonuses.

Wild vs Sabres Projected Lineups

Part of the Wild’s struggles have been due to injury, and that carries into Buffalo, where Matt Boldy (lower body) and Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body) were both placed on injured reserve on Friday.

Boldy leads the team with 27 goals and is tied for 17th in points with 51, while Ek is fourth in team scoring with 32 points. Defenseman Jonas Brodin, third on the team with 91 blocked shots, was placed on injured reserve Thursday with a lower-body issue.

Minnesota coach John Hynes said he wasn’t sure if veteran D-man Zach Bogosian (lower body) would travel for the three-game road trip. He’s missed five straight games.