Short slate of NBA basketball betting today means we’re turning our attention to NHL hockey action for Tuesday.  The Eastern Conference leading Buffalo Sabres head west to take on the resurgent Anaheim Ducks.  Ducks have been playing good hockey lately and are fighting to pull themselves back into the pack of Western Conference playoff contenders.  Sabres haven’t lost a game in regulation since December 23rd, so they’re obviously in good form as well.

BUFFALO SABRES VS. ANAHEIM DUCKS:

Sabres in the middle of a brutal west coast swing, but it got off to a good start with a 7-2 win over Phoenix on Monday.  Still ahead is this game followed by games against Los Angeles, San Jose and Vancouver.  Having played yesterday and with three tough games on deck this may be a spot where the Sabres play a more tentative, possession oriented style.  That’ll be fine with the Ducks, as they’re at their best in lower scoring games.  They do well at ‘grind it out’ hockey but don’t really have enough offensive playmakers to prevail in an end to end video game style shootout.

Ducks have gone ‘under’ in 17 of 30 against teams with winning records, while the Sabres have gone ‘under’ in 13 of 21 on the road this season.  Most importantly, perhaps, this has been very much an ‘under’ dominated series.  11 of 14 overall have gone ‘under’ the total including the last three.  Four of the last six at Anaheim have gone under including three straight.  This looks like a perfect spot for a low scoring game and we’ll play it accordingly.

PLAY BUFFALO/ANAHEIM UNDER 5′ -130