We have 12 NHL games scheduled for Tuesday, December 27, as we return to the competitive mood following Christmas, and here you can get the best Sabres vs. Blue Jackets betting pick and odds.

Buffalo is looking for the fifth win in a row, while Columbus is hoping to avoid the seventh consecutive loss when they meet at Nationwide Arena. The Sabres are -160 moneyline favorites on BookMaker Sportsbook, while the total is set at 6.5 goals. These conference rivals have faced once this season and the Sabres won 9-4 in Columbus.

Sabres are showing signs of life

The Buffalo Sabres (16-14-2-0, 18-14 ATS) are currently on their best run since the start of the season as they won four straight games. The Sabres scored at least three in each and didn’t allow more than two goals in that span. They opened their four-game road trip with three wins and now are hoping to conclude it with another one in Columbus. Buffalo beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in the most recent game and climbed up to 11th place in the Eastern Conference with 12 points ahead of the Blue Jackets.

The Sabres scored all of their three goals against Vegas in the second period. Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson, and Lawrence Pilut were on the scoresheet for Buffalo, who secured a win despite having just 18 shots opposite Vegas’ 43. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was phenomenal at the goal and recorded a career-high 41 saves. The Sabres are happy to have one of the best players in the NHL this season as Tage Thompson is currently 3rd in the league in points with 50 (G 26, A 24). Rasmus Dahlin with 37 (G 10, A 27), Jeff Skinner with 36 (G 16, A 20), and Alex Tuch with 35 points (G 15, A 20) are also the main contributors.

Craig Anderson (7-4-1) is likely going to take his place in the cage against Columbus on Tuesday. The 41-year-old is surrendering 2.65 goals per game this year with a .922 SV% and one shutout.

G Eric Comrie (knee), D Jacob Bryson (lower body), and D Owen Power (Lower body) are out indefinitely and will not play on Tuesday against the Blue Jackets.

Blue Jackets are still struggling

The Columbus Blue Jackets (10-21-1-1, 13-20 ATS) are the worst team in the Eastern Conference this season and have the second-worst record in the entire NHL. They are going through their worst period of the campaign after losing six in a row, managing to score more than two goals just once over that stretch. The latest defeat came to the Chicago Blackhawks on the road, who snapped their eight-game losing skid with that W.

Columbus conceded four goals in the space of ten minutes and couldn’t recover from it, so the Jackets succumbed to a 5-2 loss in Chicago. Kirill Marchenko and Marcus Bjork scored goals for the Blue Jackets, while Jack Roslovic registered a pair of assists. This year, Johnny Gaudreau is the only Blue Jackets worth mentioning as he leads the team with 34 points (G 10, A 24). None of his teammates is even in the top 130 in the NHL.

Elvis Merzlinkis (4-8-0) missed the previous two games with an illness but is listed as an expected goalie against Buffalo on Tuesday. The 28-year-old is allowing 4.68 goals per contest this season along with a .864 SV% and no shutouts.

RW Jakub Voracek (concussion), C Boone Jenner (thumb), D Zach Werenski (shoulder), D Jake Bean (upper body), and RW Yegor Chinakhov (lower body) are out indefinitely and will not feature on Tuesday against the Sabres.

Trends:

Buffalo:

  • 4-0 in the last five overall
  • 6-0 in the last six vs. a team with a losing record
  • 5-2 in the last seven when their opponent allows five goals or more in their previous game

Columbus:

  • 3-7 in the last ten games following a loss of three or more goals
  • 2-6 in the last eight home games
  • 0-6 in the last six vs. Atlantic Division rivals

Buffalo Sabres vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Pick  

We have a duel between the most efficient offense in the NHL and one of the weakest ones. Buffalo is scoring 3.94 goals per game while the Blue Jackets average 2.55 gpg. The Sabres’ defense is not impressive as they allow 3.41 gpg, but it’s still way better than Columbus’ which is conceding 4.03 gpg, only the Ducks have a worse defense. All of these numbers as well as the current form of these respective teams makes me bet on the Sabres, especially knowing they already dismantled the Blue Jackets in Columbus this season.

Pick: Take the Sabres to win (-160)

The Total

Columbus surrendered 4+ goals in five of its last six games, including five in each of the previous two, and given how the Sabres are playing at the moment, I can only expect the visitors to score four or five without a problem. Buffalo scored 18 goals in the last four games, so I think the Sabres shouldn’t be worried about this one. Over is 5-0 in the last five H2H meetings, while Over is 12-2 in the previous 14 H2H duels in Columbus.

Pick: Go Over 6.5 goals (-110)