Analyzing Thursday’s Buffalo Sabres at Tampa Bay Lightning odds and lines, with NHL expert picks, predictions and best bets.

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. We analyze matchups, dissect advanced stats, and pretend to have the foresight of a fortune teller. Tonight, we turn our attention to the Tampa Bay Lightning taking on the Buffalo Sabres—a matchup featuring one team fighting for playoff positioning and another fighting to stay relevant.

It is an Atlantic Division battle as the Buffalo Sabres visit the Tampa Bay Lightning It’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Sabres-Lightning prediction and pick. The Sabres come into the game at 24-30-6 on the year,

The Tampa Bay Lightning went all-in, acquiring Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand in a deal with the Seattle Kraken.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are going all-in once again. After advancing to back-to-back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals between 2020-22 — and winning two of them — the Bolts haven’t been past the first-round since.

Despite being four years removed from their last Stanley Cup championship in 2021, the Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t a team anyone would want to match up