Sabres vs Rangers

Tage Thompson and the Buffalo Sabres roll into Madison Square Garden as one of the NHL’s hottest teams, riding a stretch of 11 wins in their last 12 games after a 10-game win streak briefly ended in Columbus, and they now sit just one point out of a wild card spot heading into this road date with the New York Rangers, who trail them by two points despite having played three more games. Buffalo’s active roster is largely intact in key spots—Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Alex Tuch, Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Jack Quinn, Jason Zucker, Bowen Byram and Owen Power are all available—while the Rangers’ ESPN-listed group has taken two massive hits with Adam Fox on long-term injured reserve and Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve, forcing Jonathan Quick and Spencer Martin to carry the crease and pushing secondary defenders into primary roles. Add in that New York has been poor at home (5-10-4 with just 1.89 goals per game at MSG) and that the Sabres have already shown they can blow this matchup open with last season’s 8-2 and 6-1 wins powered by multi-point nights from Dahlin and Thompson, whereas the Rangers’ best recent counterpunch was Shesterkin’s 37-save 4-0 shutout in this year’s opener—a performance they can’t replicate tonight with him unavailable—and you get a midseason, four-point-swing game where Buffalo’s current form, health edge, and matchup history justify laying a modest price. I’m backing Buffalo Sabres -120 on the moneyline with an A- grade, reflecting a strong likelihood edge and fair juice for a surging team against a banged-up, struggling home side. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 08/01/2026 09:34.([espn.com](https://www.espn.com/nhl/team/roster/_/name/buf/buffalo-sabres))

For the total, the clash of Buffalo’s surging offense with New York’s sputtering attack and injury-riddled spine nudges me to the Under 6 (-118): the Sabres are driving this heater with deeper scoring and better five-on-five play, but they’re walking into a building where the Rangers have averaged only 1.89 goals per game and gone 5-10-4, and now must play without their top power-play driver in Fox while trying to simplify in front of Quick, whose goals-saved-above-expected metrics have tracked right behind Shesterkin’s this season. Buffalo’s injury list is mostly depth—Michael Kesselring, Conor Timmins, Jiri Kulich, Justin Danforth and backup Alex Lyon—so their main defensive pieces and forwards remain healthy, and with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis sharing a compressed five-games-in-10-days workload, Lindy Ruff can keep a capable, rested goalie in net behind a blue line that’s been a major driver of their 11-1 run. Head-to-head, these teams have shown both extremes—Buffalo’s 8-2 and 6-1 explosions last year against New York contrasted with Shesterkin’s 4-0 shutout in this season’s opener—but with the Rangers now down their ace goalie and elite puck-moving defenseman while clinging to the playoff bubble behind Buffalo, this shapes up more like a tight, playoff-flavored 3-2 or 4-1 script than a track meet. I’ll play Under 6 (-118) with a B grade: the situational and injury angles support a lower-scoring game, but the price is standard on a very efficient number, so the value is solid rather than spectacular. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 08/01/2026 09:34.([nhl.com](https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/how-to-watch-buffalo-sabres-new-york-rangers-lineup-preview))

On the puckline, the angle that best balances probability and payout is Buffalo Sabres -1.5 at 190, leaning into the gap created by Fox and Shesterkin’s absences and the way Buffalo tends to snowball when it gets out in front of this opponent. Last season the Sabres buried the Rangers 8-2 and 6-1 with Thompson, Dahlin and the rest of Buffalo’s top six feasting, and they enter tonight with 11 wins in 12 and a chance at their 12th in 13 games, while New York not only sits under .500 overall but has struggled badly at home (5-10-4) and will be trying to protect Quick and a reconfigured defense against a confident, heavy Sabres forecheck. The Rangers’ forward group—Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafrenière and the returning J.T. Miller as confirmed on their active ESPN roster—still has enough firepower to keep one-goal games in play, which caps the confidence level and keeps this from A-tier status, but Buffalo’s recent habit of winning by margin and the plus-money price on the -1.5 make this an attractive “ladder” piece alongside a core moneyline position. I’ll grade Buffalo -1.5 (190) as a B+ puckline play, acknowledging a real chance of a one-goal sweat but liking the combination of matchup edge and payout. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 08/01/2026 09:34.([nhl.com](https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/how-to-watch-buffalo-sabres-new-york-rangers-lineup-preview))