Game 66

Buffalo Sabres (23-33-9) vs. New York Rangers (41-19-5)

Puck Drop: 5:00PM Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

TV: MSG-B, MSG+

Radio: WGR 550

SB Nation New York Rangers Blog: Blue Shirt Banter

Know Your Opponent

New York Rangers

Record: (41-19-5)

Last Game: 5-1 win over the Penguins

Division Ranking: 3^rd in the Metropolitan Division

PP: 2^nd (26.55%)

PK: 8^th (81.82%)

What to Watch

1.   Will the Sabres Get Back to Winning?

The Buffalo Sabres have won seven games in March, including three of their last four. They’ve proven they can beat higher ranked teams, and aside from their 6-1 blowout road loss to the Edmonton Oilers on March 17^th, they haven’t let any recent opponent dominate and humiliate them into submission. The Sabres need to brush off their shootout defeat against the Capitals and get back to the aggressive, winning mindset they’ve shown in most matchups recently.

2.   The Amazing Anderson

Buffalo goaltender Craig Anderson, after suffering a long-term injury early in the season, has since returned to form, enjoying a .904 save percentage this season. The veteran goalie has made some incredible saves to help the Sabres out in close games. Anderson is likely to start in net against the Rangers and hopefully he’ll play as well as he has since he came off IR.

3.    Who’s Feeling Lucky?

Sportsbetting Dime has the Rangers favored by a point, and gives New York a 72.1% chance of winning. Aaron Bruce at Sports information Traders has the Rangers with slightly better odds, at 72.5%. However, under Sabres vs. Rangers Betting Trends, Bruce points out that the Sabres have been listed as the underdog 62 times this season and have upset their opponent 21 times. If Buffalo does it for the 22^nd time this evening, anyone who bets on the Sabres will get a nice payout.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner-Tage Thompson-Alex Tuch

Peyton Krebs-Dylan Cozens-Vinnie Hinostroza

Rasmus Asplund-Casey Mittelstadt-Victor Olofsson

Anders Bjork-Zemgus Girgensons-Kyle Okposo

Defense

Henri Jokiharju-Rasmus Dahlin

Mattias Samuelsson-Jacob Bryson

Colin Miller-Mark Pysyk

Starting Goalie: Craig Anderson

New York Rangers

Forwards

Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Frank Vatrano

Artemi Panarin-Ryan Strome-Andrew Copp

Alexis Lafrienere-Filip Chytil-Barclay Goodrow

Tyler Motte-Jonny Brodzinski- Dryden Hunt

Defense

Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox

K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba

Patrik Nemeth-Justin Braun

Starting Goalie: Igor Shesterkin