It has been a truly lousy season for the Buffalo Sabres, and it's one many of their fans would like to forget. But perhaps there's some hope around the corner. No, team captain Jack Eichel is not available yet, and indeed might be traded. But at least they have their goalie back, and they have put forth two spirited efforts in a row.

On Saturday night, the Sabres will host the New York Rangers for the second time in three nights, an they hope to build on what they have been doing over the last couple of games.

Game time is 7:08 PM ET at the KeyBank Canter, and at BetAnySports, you can get reduced juice on this game, so you can get a better deal on the odds. Then, after they have dropped the puck, you can place wagers in real time with Sports Betting Prime.

NEW YORK RANGERS at BUFFALO SABRES, 7:08 PM ET

NHL Betting Odds

Money Line: Rangers -255 / Sabres +215
Total: Over 5.5 Goals -122 / Under 5.5 Goals +102
Puck Line: Rangers -1.5 Goals (+105) / Sabres +1.5 Goals (-125)

After suffering 18 straight defeats, Buffalo actually got back into the win column on Wednesday night as they routed the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1. Some very good things happened for them.among which were two shorthanded goals by Brandon Montour, just 37 seconds apart. That is an NHL record for a defenseman.

They had to come back the next night for a game with the Rangers. And rather than get caught celebrating, they battled hard the whole way, tying the game on a goal by Tage Thompson with 3.6 seconds left. Unfortunately they lost the game in overtime, but it was an outstanding effort by journeyman backup goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who made 44 saves.

The Sabres are being outscored by an average of 1.3 goals per game. So we're not getting carried away with ourselves. And there is certainly a case to be made for the Rangers. After all, they averaged 3.88 goals per game in the month of March, which was second best in the NHL. And forward Mike Zibanejad, who had the overtime winner on Thursday, has nine goals and seven assists since March 17. Andy Fox has had 14 assists during that time. And the Rangers are desperate for every win, as they are three points behind Boston for the last playoff spot in the East.

But you know, at least part of the Buffalo drought can be attributed to the absence of goalie Linus Ullmark, who sat out the lion's share of it with a lower body injury. Ullmark actually has a 6-5-3 record during regulation; the rest of the Sabres' netminders have won exactly one game in 22 tries. So it is entirely possible that this is, to some extent, a different team when he's on the ice, and thus, reason for encouragement on the part of interim coach Don Granato, who has continued to keep his chin up.

At least this is a Buffalo team that believes it can be competitive. And with Ullmark's 2.49 goals against average, who's to say they can't stay in the game? So we are going to take the puck line and lay the small price with Buffalo.

BUFFALO +1.5 goals (-120)

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