Expect Larkin and Thompson to ignite the ice as red-hot Red Wings clash with surging Sabres. Count on offensive fireworks in a high-stakes divisional battle.
Wednesday features a trio of games that feature marquee matchups with an important game out of the Atlantic Division. Two teams going in opposite directions yet sportsbooks feel they're closer than people think with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the white hot Detroit Red Wings.
Since being called out by their head coach Todd McLellan, the Red Wings have won five straight with all ends of their team surging heading into Buffalo. The Sabres are starting to turn things around with a pair of wins in their last three games but are still 2-4-0 to start the season and would love a win on Wednesday to keep their momentum going forward. A key divisional matchup with some referring to the contest as a four-point game with the winning team claiming two while also preventing the other team from receiving two.
The clash should present plenty of betting opportunities and promises excitement across the league. We’re looking to build on our early-season momentum and continue the strong player prop success that fueled last year’s run with Mitch Marner, Mark Scheifele, Wyatt Johnston, Rasmus Dahlin, Teuvo Teravainen and Connor Hellebuyck.
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Detroit Red Wings vs Buffalo Sabres Best Bets:
Over 5.5 Goals (-150)
Dylan Larkin anytime goal (+160)
Tage Thompson anytime goal (+130)
Red Wings ML (-110)
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård anytime goal (+400) Longshot Pick
Over 7.5 Goals (+240) Longshot Pick
Detroit holds a strong advantage in the recent head-to-head series, having won five of the last six matchups against Buffalo. This rivalry has consistently produced offensive fireworks, and Wednesday’s game is shaping up to be another high-scoring showdown. The Red Wings and Sabres have combined for eight or more goals in nine of their last 12 meetings, including back-to-back games with ten or more goals heading into this one.
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Stupid Stat of the Day: The Red Wings are unbeaten all-time in games played on a Wednesday night at KeyBank Center with Detroit playing again the next day.
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The Red Wings will be leaning on the NHL’s First Star of the Week in captain Dylan Larkin, who is coming off an explosive stretch with five goals and six assists for 11 points in just five games. Detroit’s top line, featuring star forwards Larkin alongside star winger Lucas Raymond and standout rookie Emmitt Finnie, has been a major success early in the season. Despite Raymond missing two games, the trio has already combined for nine goals.
Larkin has a track record of tormenting the Sabres, entering Wednesday’s matchup riding a streak of three consecutive multi-point games and has tallied five such performances in his last seven appearances against Buffalo. Over his past 24 games versus the Sabres, Larkin has put up an impressive 17 goals and 12 assists, totaling 29 points.
Offense will need to come in more than one way for the Red Wings however as Wednesday is the first leg of a road back-to-back for them as they travel to the Big Apple to take on the New York Islanders Thursday. They'll need to find scoring in different places if they want to succeed and that should come from the only Red Wings player without a point through six games so far in Michael Brandsegg-Nygård.
The Norwegian rookie is still looking for his first point of the season and has been given plenty of opportunities with second power play minutes but despite the fifth-most shots on the team at ten, he's been unable to crack the scoresheet. With the workload he's shouldering and the quality of chances he's generating, it's only a matter of time before the floodgates open.
After an impressive preseason where he tallied six points in seven exhibition games, Brandsegg-Nygård enters the regular season boasting a top skating speed of 22.12 mph (77th percentile league-wide) and a hardest shot clocked at 83.02 mph (73rd percentile). As the Red Wings face a demanding road stretch, this could be the perfect moment for him to capitalize and notch his first career goal in memorable fashion.
From the Sabres, they will look to deploy their reliable goal scorer in Tage Thompson. The 27-year-old has 159 goals dating back to the start of the 2021-22 season, which ranks top 12 in the league during that span. His numbers rank ahead of notable names like Winnipeg's Kyle Connor, New York's Artemi Panarin and Dallas' Jason Robertson. The towering six-foot-six winger has also done well in this matchup, finding the net in five of his last six games against Detroit, tallying 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points over his most recent 18 matchups with the Red Wings.
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