Pittsburgh Penguins vs Buffalo Sabres: Game preview, predictions and odds | January 17, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on the road to play the Buffalo Sabres on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Pittsburgh (18-20-8) is coming off a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Buffalo (17-22-5) is coming off a 4-2 upset home win over Carolina.

Penguins vs Sabres: Head-to-head & key stats

• Pittsburgh is 102-69-35-6 all-time against Buffalo
• The Penguins are averaging 2.95 goals per game
• Buffalo is 9-11-3 at home
• Pittsburgh is allowing 3.67 goals per game
• The Sabres are averaging 3.04 goals per game
• The Penguins are 6-10-5 on the road
• Buffalo is allowing 3.34 goals per game

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Buffalo Sabres: Preview

Pittsburgh is on a three-game losing streak. Sidney Crosby leads the Penguins with 48 points, while Rickard Rakell has 38, Bryan Rust has 34, and Evgeni Malkin has 33.

The Penguins have put goalie Tristan Jarry on waivers. Thus, they are expected to start Alex Nedeljkovic who's 7-7-4 with a 3.40 GAA and a .886 SV%. In his career against Buffalo, he's 4-2-1 with a 3.09 GAA and a .902 SV%.

Buffalo, meanwhile, upset Carolina on Wednesday night and now stays at home to play Pittsburgh. The Sabres are expected to start Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who's 14-13-4 with a 2.99 GAA and a .898 SV%. In his career against Pittsburgh, he's 2-2-1 with a 3.01 GAA and a .919 SV%.

Tage Thompson leads the Sabres with 35 points, followed by Jason Zucker (33), JJ Peterka (32), Alex Tuch (32) and Rasmus Dahlin (31).

Penguins vs Sabres: Odds & Prediction

Pittsburgh is a +110 underdog while Buffalo is a -132 favorite and the over/under is set at 6.5 goals.

The Penguins haven't been playing good hockey at all as of late. They are playing poorly on defence. Buffalo, meanwhile, should be able to use its momentum from the upset win over Carolina to get off to a fast start here.

Look for Buffalo to get out to an early lead, around five minutes into the game, and cruise to a big win at home.

Prediction: Sabres 4, Penguins 2.

Penguins vs Sabres: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Sabres ML (-132)

Tip 2: Under 6.5 goals (-128)