Two teams looking to improve their playoff chances will square off on Sunday afternoon when the Buffalo Sabres travel to Detroit, Michigan to face the Detroit Red Wings at the Little Caesars Arena with the puck scheduled to drop at 1:00 PM ET and will air on TNT.

If the playoffs started today the Buffalo Sabres would not be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as they enter this game with a record of 37-35-5 and 79 points and trail the Pittsburgh Penguins by 4 points for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. 

Buffalo has won three of their last four games and is riding a two-game winning streak following Friday’s 4-2 win at home against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Sabres have five games left to go in the regular season and even though they only trail by 4 points in the Wild Card race they face a brutal run as they will have to face the Panthers, Stars, and Lightning all of which are in the playoffs and their other two matchups are against the Capitals and Red Wings both of which are in the playoff hunt as well. 

This will be the 4^th and final time this season that Buffalo will face Detroit and the Sabres have lost two of the three previous meetings including the most recent meeting last month by a score of 1-4 on the road. The Buffalo Sabres will look to remain in the Stanley Cup Playoffs race when they travel to face the Detroit Red Wings.

Like the Buffalo Sabres, the Detroit Red Wings would not be in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs if they started today as they also trail the Pittsburgh Penguins, however, the Red Wings only trail the Penguins by 1 point and have played one less game than Pittsburgh. 

The Red Wings have struggled over their last six games which has put a dent in their playoff seeding as they have lost five of their last six matchups following a 3-4 loss at home against the New York Rangers and have been shutout in two of their last six games. The Red Wings have won two of the previous three meetings this season and have won by an average margin of .33 goals per game in those meetings. 

The Detroit Red Wings will look to win the regular season series and move back into the Wild Card race when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon.

BetNow has the Detroit Red Wings listed as -130 moneyline favorites at home against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon. Buffalo has won five of the last seven in the series, however, Detroit has won two of the three meetings this season and has outscored Buffalo by an average of .33 goals per game in the meetings this season while the Sabres have won by an average margin of 1.29 goals per game in the last seven meetings.

This will be one of the better matchups on Sunday as both are still in the hunt for a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Buffalo has won five of the last seven games in the series while having won by an average margin of 1.29 goals per game in those contests which is why I am taking the moneyline for the Buffalo Sabres when they travel to face the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday afternoon.