Buffalo Sabres vs Florida Panthers: Game preview, predictions and odds

Buffalo Sabres vs Florida Panthers: Game preview, predictions and odds | April 12, 2025

Modified Apr 12, 2025 18:12 GMT

NHL: Detroit Red Wings at Florida Panthers - Source: Imagn — Buffalo Sabres vs Florida Panthers: Game preview, predictions and odds | April 12, 2025 - Source: Imagn

The Buffalo Sabres are on the road to play the Florida Panthers on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

Buffalo (35-37-2) is coming off a 3-2 road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Florida (46-29-4) is coming off a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

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

Buffalo is 54-53-4-6 all-time against Florida
The Sabres are averaging 3.25 goals per game
Florida is 26-11-2 at home
Buffalo is allowing 3.46 goals per game
The Panthers are averaging 3.03 goals per game
The Sabres are 13-23-3 on the road
Florida is allowing 2.67 goals per game

Buffalo Sabres vs Florida Panthers: Preview

Buffalo is eliminated from playoff contention but has been playing better and should use that as momentum and confidence for next season. The Sabres are led by Tage Thompson, who has 71 points. Rasmus Dahlin has 64 points, JJ Peterka has 63 points and Alex Tuch has 63.

The Sabres will likely start Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who's 24-23-4 with a 3.23 GAA and a .885 SV%. In his career against Florida, he's 0-4-1 with a 3.42 GAA and a .904 SV%.

Florida, meanwhile, will likely finish third in the Atlantic Division. The Panthers will start Sergei Bobrovsky, who's 32-18-2 with a 2.42 GAA and a .907 SV%. In his career against Buffalo, he's 16-7-2 with a 2.59 GAA and a .916 SV%.

The Panthers, meanwhile, are getting healthier but are still resting some key players for the playoffs. Florida is led by Sam Reinhart, who has 78 points. Aleksander Barkov has 68 points, Sam Bennett has 50 points and Carter Verhaeghe has 49.

Sabres vs Panthers: Odds & Prediction

Florida is a -218 favorite, while Buffalo is a +180 underdog. The over/under is set at 6.5 goals.

The Sabres have been playing better, but playing in Florida on the road is a tough spot. The Panthers are starting to get into playoff form and play harder and more physically.

This should be a closer game than the odds suggest, but Florida will edge out a win here.

Prediction: Panthers 3, Sabres 2.

Sabres vs Panthers: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Florida ML (-218)

Tip 2: Under 6.5 goals (-142)

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton