Carolina at Buffalo

Buffalo has dropped three straight and five of their last six while Carolina has won seven straight games. Make that eight after tonight. Eric Staal has been on fire, scoring six goals and dishing 12 assists during the Carolina run. Buffalo is struggling with penalties and Carolina is 9-1 vs. penalty prone teams that average >4.7 power plays/game this season. They are also 11-2 against horrible power play killing teams-that allow opponents to score on >19% of chances over the last 3 seasons. Buffalo is allowing 19.4% and 25% over their past five games. The Sabres are giving up 4.6 goals per game over that five-game run. Carolina wins here and we'll back them for a star.