Buffalo Sabres vs. San Jose Sharks: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/18/2023

Time: 10:30 p.m. ET

Venue: SAP Center, San Jose, CA

Where to watch: NBCSCA, MSG-B

DraftKings: Sabres -125, Sharks +105

FanDuel: Sabres -125, Sharks +105

BetMGM: Sabres -125, Sharks +105

Caesars: Sabres -125, Sharks +105

Sabres: 27-22-4

Sharks: 17-28-11

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The Buffalo Sabres will be playing the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, February 18 in San Jose, California.

The Buffalo Sabres won against the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday, February 15 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California with a score of 7-3. The Buffalo Sabres currently rank 6th in the Atlantic Division.

The Buffalo Sabres ended a four-game skid with the win against Anaheim. Peyton Krebs, Tyson Jost, Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch and Casey Mittelstadt each had a goal and an assist, and Eric Comrie made 19 saves for the Sabres (27-22-4), who were 0-3-1 during the skid.

"It felt like we were back into a rhythm as far as five guys playing together from one shift to the next shift," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "I know they were very excited about that feeling."

The Sabres outshot the Ducks 19-3 in the first period while taking a 2-0 lead.

Jost banked the puck off Dostal's right pad from below the goal line for a 1-0 lead at 6:08. Anaheim got its first shot on goal while clearing the puck on a power play with 4:40 left in the first period. Tage Thompson scored 38 seconds later while still on the power play for a 2-0 lead at 15:58. It was his fourth goal in seven games.

The Ducks were getting outshot 23-4 when Kevin Shattenkirk scored his first goal of the season off a rush to cut it to 2-1 at 6:37 of the second period. Cam Fowler tied it 2-2 at 7:48 when his wrist shot glanced off the inside edge of the post with Derek Grant providing a screen and made it 3-2 at 13:08 when he scored on a rebound. The Sabres only trailed for 35 seconds before Krebs tied it 3-3 off a feed from Jack Quinn at 13:43.

Krebs was moved up to the third line with Mittelstadt and Quinn before the game.

"You know when you give them the puck, they're going to make some plays," Krebs said of Mittelstadt and Quinn. "I just tried to make sure I was hard defensively so I could get them the puck, and they did their thing."

Mittelstadt scored short side on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle to move Buffalo back ahead 4-3 at 18:03.

"After we fall behind 3-2, our guys wanted to get back out there," Granato said. "That kind of exemplified how dialed in our guys were tonight and how determined they were."

Tuch scored after exiting the penalty box to make it 5-3 at 6:13 of the third period.

Zemgus Girgensons scored off another rush to extend the lead to 6-3 at 11:46, and Cozens scored at 18:53 for the 7-3 final.

The Buffalo Sabres have won six of their last 10 games.

The San Jose Sharks lost against the Vegas Golden Knights last Thursday, February 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with a score of 2-1. The San Jose Sharks currently rank 7th in the Pacific Division.

Kaapo Kahkonen made 36 saves, and Alexander Barabanov scored for San Jose (17-28-11)

"Our goalie was outstanding tonight. I thought it was his best game of the year," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "I'm just really disappointed we couldn't finish it off in the last 17 seconds."

Barabanov gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 17:04 of the second period, putting in a rebound off of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot from the left point. He has a point in six of his past seven games (four goals, two assists).

"He's a really smart player," Quinn said of Barbanov. "He's strong on his skates for a small guy (5-foot-10, 195 pounds). He makes real good decisions with the puck. … He generates a lot of offense. When the puck's on his stick, good things usually happen."

The San Jose Sharks have won three of their last 10 games.

Prediction

The Sharks will find a way to get a win eventually. This is not the time. Sabres 6, Sharks 2

Sabres are 17-11 in non-conference games this season.

Sabres are 9-6 off a road win this season.

Sharks are 1-11 on Saturday this season.

Sabres:

Jeff Skinner -- Tage Thompson -- Alex Tuch

JJ Peterka -- Dylan Cozens -- Victor Olofsson

Casey Mittelstadt -- Peyton Krebs -- Jack Quinn

Zemgus Girgensons -- Tyson Jost -- Kyle Okposo

Rasmus Dahlin -- Henri Jokiharju

Mattias Samuelsson -- Owen Power

Kale Clague -- Ilya Lyubushkin

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Sharks:

Timo Meier -- Tomas Hertl -- Nick Bonino

Michael Eyssimont -- Logan Couture -- Alexander Barabanov

Oskar Lindblom -- Nico Sturm -- Noah Gregor

Evgeny Svechnikov -- Steven Lorentz -- Kevin Labanc

Scott Harrington -- Erik Karlsson

Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Matt Benning

Jacob MacDonald -- Mario Ferraro

Kaapo Kahkonen