Buffalo Sabres vs Florida Panthers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 02/27/26

Both the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers began their respective post-Olympic schedules with victories. The Sabres defeated the Devils on Wednesday, and the Panthers took down the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Both teams allowed just a single goal in their respective contests earlier this week, and that low-scoring trend should continue in this one. Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 29 shots in Thursday’s win, which means we will likely see backup Daniil Tarasov between the pipes for Florida. Tarasov has been decent when called upon, as his save percentage on the season is just a tick below .900 and his goals-against average is a formidable 2.83. Tarasov should be up to the task of slowing down Tage Thompson and company.

It would be a bit surprising to see these teams find great success on the man advantage in this contest. The Buffalo power play has been fairly ineffective on the road this season, as the Sabres rank 23rd in the NHL with a road power play percentage of 17.1%. The Panthers have had their issues this season, but the penalty kill has been strong. In fact, both of these teams rank in the top-7 of the league with penalty kills operating at rates of over 82%. With the Sabres hanging on to a Wild Card spot and the Panthers fighting for their playoff lives, I’m expecting this matchup to produce a physical, low-scoring total. Look to the under.

Sabres vs Panthers prediction: Under 6.5 (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.