Sabres vs Hurricanes

With Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and a deep Carolina forward group rolling at home, I’m siding with the Hurricanes on the moneyline despite Buffalo’s torrid 15-2-1 surge and 8-1-0 run in its last nine road games. Carolina has been one of the league’s most dominant home sides again this year and now throws Brandon Bussi (17-3-1, .905) behind a five-on-five shot-share monster into a building where the Sabres have gone 0-10-2 in their last 12 trips, even though Buffalo did grab a 4-1 win in the earlier meeting in Buffalo behind a strong Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen performance. Buffalo’s injury list still includes Josh Norris (now week-to-week) and depth pieces like Josh Dunne and Alex Lyon, while Carolina is missing Pyotr Kochetkov and depth forward William Carrier, but both clubs otherwise have their core stars — Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch for Buffalo; Aho, Svechnikov, Nikolaj Ehlers and Jaccob Slavin for Carolina — available and in form. Given that Carolina sits atop the Metro race while Buffalo is fighting in a deep Atlantic pack for a playoff berth, this spot has a playoff-style feel, and I trust the Canes’ home-ice structure and two-way depth to carry a game they know they “should” win more often than not. At a moneyline of -200 with an implied win rate in the mid-60s, I grade this wager a B: the edge is real thanks to form, matchup, and venue, but the price is only moderately attractive. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 19/01/2026 09:23([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nhl/preview/_/gameId/401803121))

The total at 6.5 is high enough that I lean to the under, even with both offenses humming around three-and-a-half goals per game and riding multi-game over streaks. Buffalo’s recent surge has been fueled by improved five-on-five play and a power play that has gone 5-for-14 over its last three, but Lindy Ruff’s group has also tightened defensively behind a blue line led by Dahlin, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson, while Carolina’s territorial dominance tends to suppress shots and chances the longer a game settles into its rhythm. The first two meetings this season landed on 9 and 5 total goals, respectively, and with Bussi continuing to outperform expectations plus Luukkonen playing some of his best hockey of the year, there’s a decent chance the goaltenders and structure win out over the raw scoring talent in what feels like a playoff-angled measuring stick game for Buffalo. Add in that market money has shaded toward the under on 6.5 with the house slightly juicing that side, and I’m comfortable grading Under 6.5 at -115 as a B- pick: it’s a modest value edge that leans on goaltending, defensive form, and game state more than recent headline-grabbing scorelines. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 19/01/2026 09:23([fanduel.com](https://www.fanduel.com/research/hurricanes-vs-sabres-prediction-nhl-odds-1-19-2026?utm_source=openai))

On the puckline, I’ll still lean toward Carolina -1.5, but with more caution given how sharp Buffalo has been, so this is a lower-confidence angle than the straight moneyline. The Hurricanes have the profile you want for a multi-goal home win — elite five-on-five shot share, a forecheck that forces mistakes late, and a recent pattern of victories coming by multiple goals — and they get last change against a Sabres team that is missing key middle-six center Josh Norris and still waiting on Alex Lyon to be fully back up to speed, which stretches Buffalo’s center depth behind Thompson. At the same time, Buffalo’s 15-2-1 heater, seven-game point streaks from Thompson and Tuch, and Luukkonen’s strong outing in their 4-1 win in the previous head-to-head are real warning signs against laying goals, especially when the Sabres badly need every point in a crowded Atlantic and are unlikely to go quietly even in a tough building where they haven’t won in years. I see a meaningful chance that Carolina’s territorial edge and late empty-net opportunities push this past the -1.5, but the Sabres’ current form makes the path to a one-goal Canes win very live, so I grade Hurricanes -1.5 (-120) as a C+ value play that’s more suited to smaller exposure or parlay usage than as a core position. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 19/01/2026 09:23([covers.com](https://www.covers.com/nhl/sabres-vs-hurricanes-prediction-picks-best-bets-sgp-monday-1-19-2026?utm_source=openai))