Who is favoured, Vancouver Canucks or Buffalo Sabres?

Buffalo Sabres, at 72.0% in PuckCast's preseason forecast. That is a rating-based forecast; the full model read, with goalies, rest and form, publishes within seven days of puck drop.

What is a preseason forecast?

A win probability from each team's regressed preseason rating and home ice, the same ratings behind the 2026-27 projected standings. Those ratings are calibrated at the season level, for standings and playoff odds; this single-game percentage is a plain rating formula and has not been graded on its own yet. It is deliberately unsure about any single game, and the confidence grade says how far it leans.

When does the real prediction publish?

Inside the seven-day window before the game. The model re-scores it on every refresh until puck drop, with the confirmed starting goalies, and this page shows that read instead of the forecast.

Vancouver Canucks at Buffalo Sabres, Tue, Mar 9: prediction and odds forecast

PuckCast Edge

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2026-27 forecast · Tue, Mar 9, 7:00 PM ET

Vancouver CanucksVAN

80 proj. pts · 21.8% playoffs

Kevin Lankinen · 0.875 SV%

Avs7:00 PM ET

Buffalo SabresBUF

A preseason forecast from each team's regressed rating and home ice, the ratings behind the projected standings. The full model read, with the starting goalies, rest and form, publishes within seven days of the game and replaces this page’s numbers. How the model works

The read

Preseason ratings · last season’s record

BUF controlled play at 5v5 last season, 50.7% of the expected goals to 43.2%; BUF's power play ran at 19.7% against a VAN kill at 71.5%.

In goal, neither team has named a starter. Last season Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) saved -1.3 goals above expected to Kevin Lankinen's -44.4, on save percentages of 0.910 and 0.875.

None of that is the model read. This is a rating-and-home-ice forecast; the full prediction — confirmed goalies, rest and form, priced against the market — publishes inside the seven days before puck drop and replaces these numbers. Buffalo Sabres over Vancouver Canucks is where it starts, not where it ends.

In goal

goalie board

No starter is named this far out. These are each side’s projected starters on the current roster, with last season’s numbers.

VAN

Kevin Lankinen

SV%: 0.875
GSAx: -44.4
GAA: 3.70
Record: 11-27-5

47 games, 2025-26

BUF

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

SV%: 0.910
GSAx: -1.3
GAA: 2.52
Record: 22-9-3

35 games, 2025-26

VAN	Metric	BUF
43.2%	xGF% (5v5)	50.7%
46.5%	Shot share	49.7%
2.6	Goals for / game	3.4
3.8	Goals against / game	2.9
21.8%	Power play	19.7%
71.5%	Penalty kill	81.0%
49.3%	Faceoffs	45.9%

Who drives it

2026-27 projected points

Vancouver Canucks

Player	Pos	G	A	Pts
Elias Pettersson	C	23	42	65
Brock Boeser	R	25	29	53
Marco Rossi	C	18	28	46
Filip Hronek	D	7	36	43

Buffalo Sabres

Player	Pos	G	A	Pts
Tage Thompson	C	35	33	68

Date	Game	Pick	Score	Result
2026-01-06	VAN @ BUF	BUF	VAN 3–5 BUF	Correct
2025-12-11	BUF @ VAN	VAN	BUF 3–2 VAN	Missed

Team	Proj. points	Playoff odds
Vancouver Canucks	80	21.8%
Buffalo Sabres	104	67.2%

Every pick is free. The Edge is the rest.

The read

In goal

Last season, side by side

Who drives it

Schedule around it

Last season, head to head

Season outlook