The San Jose Sharks have been in good form despite blowing a third-period lead to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night, but Tuesday night will feature a lineup change fans have been hoping to see sooner rather than later. With this past year’s second-overall pick Ivar Stenberg already getting big minutes with the Sharks, he will be pushed into an even bigger role on the first line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.
It’s a great team to start the young line against, as the Buffalo Sabres are fourth-worst in the league, allowing 3.64 goals per game. Their goaltending has been an issue, and no help is coming after their hopeful target, Connor Hellebuyck, landed in New Jersey last week.
The good news for the Sabres is that the Sharks aren’t much better in the goals-against department, sitting just in front of the Sabres at 3.5 goals allowed per game. It’s probably clear where this is going, as two exciting young offenses square off out West with little defense to stop them. This could be a game where each team’s big dogs go off for a ton of goals.
Sabres vs Sharks prediction: Over 6.5 (-122) available at the time of publishing. Playable to this number.
