What: Winnipeg Jets at Buffalo Sabres NHL Picks And Best Bets
When: Thursday, December 5, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
The Winnipeg Jets are beginning to come back down to earth in the NHL picks, while it’s business as usual for the Buffalo Sabres. And when it’s business as usual in Buffalo, business is not good.
The Jets, who opened the NHL season 15-1, have lost four games in a row. As they arrive in Buffalo, the Sabres are also skidding along on a four-game losing skid.
Oddsmakers are leaning toward the Jets in the NHL picks. Winnipeg is set as -133 road favorites.
 | Puck Line | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg Jets | -1.5 (+180) | -133 | O 5.5 (-115) |
| Buffalo Sabres | +1.5 (-210) | +118 | U 5.5 (-101) |
There are nine games on a relatively busy Thursday NHL schedule. We’ve checked the current NHL odds and selected the Winnipeg Jets vs the Buffalo Sabres as being one of the best bets worth taking in the NHL picks. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s jump right into our betting prediction.
When checking the NHL betting lines at any of the leading Vegas sports betting sites, you’ll find that the Jets are a top contender in the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup odds following their bold start to the season. The Jets were winners on each of their last three visits to Buffalo’s KeyBank Center.
The Jets are 4-1 straight up in their last five meetings with the Sabres. Winnipeg is 5-1 SU in the club’s past six visits to Buffalo.
Overall, Winnipeg is 1-5 SU through the past six games. However, the Jets are 6-2 SU in the club’s past eight games against Eastern Conference opponents.
The Sabres are 1-4 SU in their last five games. Buffalo, though, is 7-3 SU in the last 10 games when facing Western Conference opposition.
The total has gone under in four of the past five and eight of the last 10 games between the Jets and the Sabres. Four of the last five meetings between these two teams played at Buffalo also went under. Overall, six of Winnipeg’s last seven games have hit on the under, as have seven of the last eight road games played by the Jets. Four of the last six Winnipeg games against teams from the Atlantic Division went over.
Four of Buffalo’s past five home games have gone over. The under has hit in 13 of the last 20 games between the Sabres and clubs from the Central Division.
Winnipeg is 15-1 SU as a betting favorite this season. The Jets are 7-8 against the puck line as an away team. Buffalo is 5-9-2 SU as a betting underdog. The Sabres are 7-7 against the puck line on home ice during the 2024-25 campaign.
Winnipeg (18-8) was scoring 4.6 goals per game during the club’s 15-1 start. The Jets are 3-7 since and are scoring just 2.2 goals per game over than span. They’ve been shutout or posted a solitary goal in six games during this run of bad form.
The NHL picks show that they’ve dropped three in a row on the road and are 3-6 SU away from home this season. That’s concerning, considering that Winnipeg is in the midst of 11 of 13 games on the road.
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck has allowed eight goals over his last three starts, all of them losses. Hellebuyck is is 15-5-0 with a 2.16 GAA and a .927 save percentage. Backup Eric Comrie is 3-3 with a 3.04 goals-against average. Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele share the team lead with 13 goals. Connor has scored six against Buffalo in 12 games. He’s leading the team in scoring with 29 points, just ahead of Scheifele (27) and Nikolaj Ehlers (25).
Buffalo (11-12-2) was up 4-0 at home against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday – and lost 5-4. While losing three in a row, the Sabres have surrendered 12 goals, nine of them in two home-ice setbacks. They are 6-7-1 at home.
Buffalo may also be without captain Rasmus Dahlin. The Swedish defenseman left Tuesday’s loss with back spasms. He’s accounted for 19 points this season. Buffalo forward Tage Thompson has six goals in the past 10 games.
Forward Alex Tuch is leading the Sabres with 23 points. Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is 8-5-2 with a 2.69 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
The Sabres might be just what the doctor ordered to get the Jets soaring again. Winnipeg is 6-3-1 SU in the past 10 meetings with Buffalo.
Allowing just 2.58 goals per game, Winnipeg is among the NHL’s more stingy defensive units. Buffalo is not. The Sabres allow 3.12 goals per game, which is 19th in the NHL, and that could be making the difference. Take the Jets to beat the Sabres in the Thursday NHL picks.
