With just two days remaining in the 2025-26 NHL regular season, the first-round matchups are starting to finalize. The Boston Bruins topped the New Jersey Devils in their season finale on Tuesday night, locking them into the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot and a first-round series matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.
As opening odds go live for each playoff series on DraftKings Sportsbook, we get our first look at which side betting markets favor. As things currently stand, the Sabres are favored at -180 odds to win the series outright. Here’s a quick breakdown of the series.
Sabres vs. Bruins first-round series odds
The Sabres are back in the playoffs for the first time since I was 11 years old. Unfortunately for Buffalo, if there was one division foe that had its number during the regular season, it was Boston. The Bruins topped the Sabres in three of four meetings this season and even picked up a huge overtime win on Mar. 25 in the midst of a strong Sabres’ run.
Boston’s overall toughness, coupled with its strong goaltending, could pose a serious problem for Buffalo. However, the Bruins are quite top-heavy, and the club will need production from all four lines if they want to keep up with the Sabres. The Sabres also have strong goaltending and even have the luxury of potentially rotating between three goaltenders to maximize rest. One area that will be very fun to watch is the special-teams play, as Buffalo is a top penalty-kill unit and Boston is a top-10 power play team. Interestingly enough, the Sabres are also a bottom-10 power play team, and the Bruins are a bottom-10 penalty kill team.
All in all, this series should provide some high-quality hockey to begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Buffalo holds +1600 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in its existence, while Boston holds +5500 odds, which is tied for the third-highest odds among all playoff teams.
