Vegas Golden Knights vs Buffalo Sabres: Mitch Marner Sets the Tone for a Home-Ice Cover

First period

Vegas opens this matchup at home as the listed home team against the Sabres, and that status typically dictates the opening-game script bettors look for in early puck-line and first-period moneyline markets. Vegas has a healthy high-end forward in Mitch Marner available on the roster, and that kind of top-line play-driving profile is the sort of personnel note that can keep the Knights priced as the side to dictate early pace in the Vegas Golden Knights vs Buffalo Sabres betting line. Vegas also enters with Adin Hill on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and Mark Stone on long-term injured reserve with a wrist injury, and that combination can push action toward tighter first-20 projections when markets shade uncertainty around net and finishing depth. William Karlsson is also listed out on injured reserve and week-to-week with a lower-body issue, and that absence can matter in early faceoff and matchup minutes that influence first-period totals derivatives and live odds.

Second period

The middle frame is where in-game pricing often reacts fastest to bench depth and blue-line continuity, and Vegas has Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin available on defense while Jeremy Lauzon is out on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Vegas having Theodore and Hanifin available supports the kind of puck-moving sequence that can tilt second-period shot share and nudge live markets toward the Knights if the game state is tied after 20 minutes. Buffalo is the away team in this regular-season game, and road change dynamics are a key reason second-period swings can show up in puck-line decisioning when the home team gets last change. If the market has any lean to scoring, it’s often expressed through the Vegas Golden Knights vs Buffalo Sabres over under, and Vegas’ current goalie injury note with Hill out is one of the cleanest roster-based inputs that can keep totals talk active as this game settles into its second-period rhythm.

Third period

Late-game betting is most sensitive to who can protect a lead and who can create one last push, and Vegas still lists multiple scoring options in Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl, Ivan Barbashev, Reilly Smith, and Marner on the available roster. Those names matter because third-period moneyline and live puck-line prices frequently compress around finishers who can convert a one-goal game into an empty-net cover. Vegas also has Akira Schmid and Carl Lindbom available in goal on the roster while Hill remains out, and that availability picture is the go/no-go context bettors use when looking at late total swings and last-10-minutes live odds. From a pure matchup framing, the predictions chances of winning in many models will lean on home ice plus Vegas’ top-end forward depth, while acknowledging that the injury list forces more scrutiny of late-game variance.

Vegas hosts Buffalo at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 17, 2026 at 10:00 PM ET, and where to watch Vegas Golden Knights vs Buffalo Sabres is ESPN+, SCRIPPS, and MSG-B. Track the closing number, play the live board with discipline if the goalie situation shifts, and share this article with another Knights fan who’s lining up their picks.