Two teams that are seeing their playoff aspirations fade will face each other on Wednesday evening when the Ottawa Senators travel to Buffalo, New York to face the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM ET and will air on MSG Buffalo and Root Sports North.

Ottawa will need a miracle to make the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs as they have been one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference this season and trail the Washington Capitals by 15 points with only 12 games left to play the Senators are likely to miss the playoffs for the 7^th consecutive season. 

The Ottawa Senators not making the playoffs shouldn’t come as a surprise as they have been one of the worst teams defensively and have featured below-average goaltending from their goalies as they are allowing the 5^th most goals per game with an average of 3.56 goals per game. The Senators have been below .500 for the entire month of March and have compiled a record of 5–7-1 this month but are on a two-game winning streak following Sunday’s 5-3 win at home against the Edmonton Oilers and have only allowed an average of 2.5 goals per game over their last two games. 

The Senators lost the most recent meeting against the Sabres by a score of 3-5 and have lost two of the three meetings this season. The Ottawa Senators will look to tie the regular season series when they travel to face the Buffalo Sabres.

Despite having been an above-average team defensively and having above-average goaltending, allowing an average of 3 goals per game which ranks 13^th in the league, the Buffalo Sabres will need a strong push in the final stretch of the regular season.

They trail the Washington Capitals by 6 points for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 34-33-5 and 73 points. Buffalo is .500 in March and has compiled a record of 6-6 following Sunday’s 4-1 road win against the Calgary Flames which also ended their two-game losing streak. 

Buffalo has allowed 3 or fewer goals in eight of their 12 games this month and will look to continue that on Wednesday evening when they look to win the regular season series 3-1 when they host the Ottawa Senators in the 4^th game of the regular season series.

WagerWeb has the Buffalo Sabres listed as -128 moneyline favorites at home against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday evening. Buffalo has won two of the previous three meetings this season, however, both teams have averaged 4 goals apiece in the regular season series this year. Last season the series ended in a split and based on the odds the series this season has a strong possibility of ending in a split again.

Ottawa enters this game on a two-game winning streak, however, they are below .500 in March and have compiled a record of 5-7-1 while Buffalo is .500 after compiling a record of 6-6 so far this month. The Sabres have won two of the three regular-season meetings this season and I look for that trend to continue in this matchup which is why I am taking the moneyline for the Buffalo Sabres when they host the Ottawa Senators in game four of the regular season on Wednesday evening.