The Buffalo Sabres' season is on the line in hostile territory on Saturday, May 16, as they face the Montreal Canadiens north of the border. The Habs won Game 5 3-2 in Buffalo to take a 3-2 lead back home, and the Sabres must win Saturday night to force Game 7, which would be in Buffalo on Monday. The Carolina Hurricanes await the winner of this second-round series in the Eastern Conference Final, and Carolina is a perfect 8-0 this postseason.
The SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NHL game 10,000 times, has locked in its NHL picks and best bets for Saturday's Sabres at Canadiens Game 6 clash. The model entered the second round of the 2026 NHL playoffs with a +668 return on top-rated money-line NHL picks. Anyone following its NHL betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen strong returns.
With this pivotal Game 6 matchup headlining the sports world on Saturday, there are a ton of NHL betting opportunities like spread betting, Over/Under bets, money line betting and even player prop bets. Bettors can also combine multiple picks and make a same-game parlay bet for Saturday's Game 6 matchup.
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NHL Playoffs picks for Saturday, May 16
- Sabres money line
- Under 6.5
Sabres money line vs. Canadiens
One interesting part of this series has been the success of the road teams. The Canadiens went 2-1 in Buffalo while the Sabres went 1-1 in Montreal. The Sabres will need to match the Canadiens' 2-1 road mark in order to keep their Stanley Cup hopes alive after getting blown out at home on Thursday. The good news for Buffalo fans is the SportsLine model thinks the Sabres will do just that, as they win in the majority of simulations at plus money.
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Sabres-Canadiens Over 6.5
The SportsLine model has the Under hitting in more simulations, but the Over is hitting in 42.1% of simulations and presents more value at plus money. The Over has hit twice in five games thus far this series. Both teams have leaned to the Under this postseason, with seven of Buffalo's 11 games going Under 6.5 as have nine of Montreal's 12 playoff games so far.
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