The Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks meet Monday in NHL action at the United Center. The Buffalo Sabres look for a win after winning five of their last eight games. The Chicago Blackhawks need a win after losing five of their last eight games.

The Buffalo Sabres are averaging 2.6 goals per game and are scoring on 18.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Tage Thompson leads Buffalo with 27 goals, Rasmus Dahlin has 30 assists and Jeff Skinner has 205 shots on goal. Defensively, the Buffalo Sabres are allowing 3.5 goals per game and are killing 75.6 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Dustin Tokarski has given up 64 goals on 686 shots faced, and Craig Anderson has given up 64 goals on 664 shots.

The Chicago Blackhawks are averaging 2.6 goals per game and are scoring on 20.6 percent of their power play opportunities. Alex DeBrincat leads Chicago with 37 goals, Patrick Kane has 57 assists and Seth Jones has 152 shots on goal. Defensively, the Chicago Blackhawks are allowing 3.4 goals per game and are killing 76.1 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Collin Delia has given up six goals on 58 shots faced, and Kevin Lankinen has allowed 64 goals on 574 shots.

The Sabres are 32-90 in their last 122 road games and 34-78 in their last 112 overall. The Blackhawks are 3-11 in their last 14 home games and 9-19 in their last 28 overall. The under is 3-1-1 in Sabres last 5 road games. The over is 3-0-1 in Blackhawks last 4 overall. The Sabres are 1-10 in the last 11 meetings in Chicago and 5-18-1 in the last 24 meetings.

The Chicago Blackhawks should have the edge at home with the rest advantage, but let’s not act like they’re lighting the world on fire. The Blackhawks aren’t a good team, and they’ve actually had issues getting the job done at home. The Buffalo Sabres are on the end of a back to back and have been brutal on the road for years, but they’re playing decent hockey at the moment, and that makes them valuable in the underdog role against a below average team. I’ll take it.