{"id":118125,"date":"2026-05-14T17:19:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/?p=118125"},"modified":"2026-05-14T17:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:23:21","slug":"nhl-picks-sabres-betting-favourites-as-eastern-conference-series-heads-back-to-buffalo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/hockey\/nhl\/nhl-picks-sabres-betting-favourites-as-eastern-conference-series-heads-back-to-buffalo\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Picks: Sabres Betting Favourites as Eastern Conference Series Heads Back to Buffalo"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":117462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[775],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl"],"acf":{"brief_description":"Will Lindy Ruff's public critique of the officiating impact how tonight's game is refereed, further impacting the results?","auto_update_sportal365":true,"property_type":["","run_ads","","","",""],"main_image":117463,"main_image_description":"Thursday NHL betting picks from Betway","authors":false,"custom_author":"Mark Keast","type":"news","properties":{"ads_enabled":true,"adult_content":false,"important":false,"live":false},"live_url":"","type_of_redirect":"permanent","body":[{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"

Talk about bulletin board material \u2013 Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff accused the Montreal Canadiens players of \u201cgoing down easy\u201d and drawing penalties.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of the playoffs, making a play look worse than it is, he acknowledged. The Habs power play has been cruising at a 19.6% clip, with the Sabres at 15%.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other night, in Game 4 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the Canadiens had seven power plays, capitalizing on one of them. That angered Ruff something fierce, criticizing the officiating post-game.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost a lot of momentum on some questionable calls,\u201d he told reporters later. \u201cI thought we could have got some calls ourselves. We didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sabres still won Game 4, 3-2, backed by goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who made 29 saves, for a .935 SV%.<\/span><\/p>\n

BEST BETS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m. EST, KeyBank, Buffalo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Series tied 2-2<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In <\/strong><\/span>NHL betting<\/strong><\/u><\/span><\/a> at Betway, the Sabres are Moneyline favorites, at -120, with the Canadiens at +100. The spread sits at Buffalo -1.5 (+185) and the Canadiens +1.5 (-250). The Over\/Under is 5.5 (O -130, U +110).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Over 5.5 -130<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If there\u2019s any narrative that has dominated what is fast turning into an epic NHL playoff series, it\u2019s been the level of energy in both team\u2019s rinks.<\/span><\/p>\n

And tonight, in Buffalo, it\u2019s going to be raucous. Ruff\u2019s comments about the officiating are going to add fuel to all that. I wouldn\u2019t want to be a referee tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Credit to both teams, who each have secured road wins in the series so far.<\/span><\/p>\n

That Over\/Under number is lower, since I think there will be more power plays tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sabres win at home, if you want to take their ML. I was so impressed by Luukkonen, on enemy ice, in Game 4, while Canadiens\u2019 goalie Jakub Dobes has been carrying heavy minutes, and will be under a heavy attack tonight. Luukkonen is fresher than Dobes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sabres are going to be more desperate, not wanting to go back to the unfriendly confines of the Bell Centre in an elimination game scenario.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prop: Cole Caufield Over 0.5 Total Goals +155. Consider Caufield awakened.<\/span><\/p>\n

BEST BETS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vegas Golden Knights at Anaheim Ducks, 9:30 p.m. EST, Honda Center, Anaheim<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Golden Knights lead series 3-2<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At Betway, the Golden Knights are slight Moneyline favorites, at -115, with the Ducks at -105. The spread sits at Vegas -1.5 (+200) and the Ducks + 1.5 (-275). The Over\/Under is 6.5 (O +110, U -130).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Golden Knights -1.5 +200<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s good value on the Vegas spread, if you are confident the Golden Knights can put the pedal down and finish the Ducks off tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their powerplay the past three games is 3-for-7.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the injury front, for the Golden Knights, Mark Stone is still listed as day to day with a lower body injury, while Radko Gudas (day to day, lower body) and Ryan Poehling (day to day, upper body) are out for the Ducks.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am a little hesitant with Stone out, but I really like the Golden Knights tonight. Maybe I\u2019m being impatient to get that next round Colorado Avalanche series started.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart has outperformed Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal in the series, with a better high-danger save percentage. And Vegas is 3-2 on the road in the playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am also sniffing the Over 6.5 \u2013 Anaheim is going to be aggressive at home with their season on the line. Vegas\u2019 attack (Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Brett Howden, William Karlsson, Pavel Dorofeyev) can capitalize on transitions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prop: Howden, who has scored seven goals and two assists over the past 10 games, Over 0.5 Total Goals, +320.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118125"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118127,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118125\/revisions\/118127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}