Florida Panthers vs Buffalo Sabres Picks and Predictions for Monday October 12, 2026
The Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres are set to have a great game on Monday afternoon in a Columbus Day showdown. The Sabres and Panthers are set to have a puck drop at 1:00 PM EST at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The game is televised on MSG-B and SCRIPPS. Make sure you are prepared for all the NHL action with our free NHL picks.
Florida Panthers Have Been Competitive Despite Offensive Difficulties
The Panthers are heading to this game here having played five games so far this season. The overall record for the Panthers sits at 2-1-2 on the year with a total of 6 points. In their last game the Panthers ended up dropping the game to the Minnesota Wild by a score of 4-1. That is after picking up a 2-1 win over the Kings. Either way, the Panthers have not scored more than 3 goals in a game so far this year and that happened only once.
While the 4-1 result does seem like it was a blowout game, that is not the case. Jacob Markstrom for the Panthers needed up stopping 25 shots in the game, but did allow 3 goals before the Wild put in an empty netter. Either way, it was a loss that showed the Panthers offense is continuing to struggle. This year the Panthers have ended up getting 1.80 goals per game on the year with 9 goals total. If the offense was able to actually show up in the games the Panthers could be doing significantly better as the defense allowed only 2.4 goals per game or a total of 12 goals allowed.
Injured Panthers:
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- Aleksander Barkov - Out
- Brad Marchand - Out
- Jonah Gadjovic - Out
Buffalo Sabres Need an Offensive Response After Consecutive Defeats
The Buffalo Sabres have played in 5 games as well and that allows for a great comparison of the records. However, for the Sabres fans it is not nearly as good news as they would expect. The Sabres have posted a 2-3-0 record on the season and have only managed to get 4 points scored on the season thus far.
The Sabres do have a little bit better news on the offensive side at times as the Sabres have put in 4 goals in at least 1 games this year. The defense for the Sabres, though has been leaky at times as can be seen in the fact the Sabres allowed 6 goals against a Blue Jackets team that has had some shaky offensive efforts on the year.
Just like the Florida offense the Sabres offense has struggled this year, but it is doing better than Florida with a total of 11 goals scored and 2.2 per game. Defensively the Sabres have really gotten to tighten up on the ice as they have allowed 3.80 goals per game this year with a total of 19 goals allowed on the year.
Injured Sabres
- Jason Zucker - Out
- Conor Timmins - Out
- Alex Lyon - Out
Florida Panthers vs Buffalo Sabres Picks and Prediction
Moneyline Pick: Florida Panthers
The Panthers offensive struggles are well documented, but what better time to correct some offensive issues than against a struggling defense? That is what the Panthers are going to face on the road in this game and that does make it easier to see the Panthers coming out on top as the offensive efforts from Florida may actually pay off. The Sabres for their part have an offense that has struggled against defenses that have not been overly impressive and now are facing what can easily be regarded as one of the top defenses in the NHL and that will make the difference in this game here.
Total Pick: Under 5.5 Goals
Neither team has really justified any type of offensive efforts on the year so far. Granted, the Sabres do have the better offense in this game by .40 goals, but that is not going to make the difference against the Panthers standout defense. Now, I do think that the Panthers are going to show up and finally crack the 4 goal mark in the game here. However, I do not see the Sabres offense showing up to push this game over the total.
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