Who wins
| Source | CBJ wins | BUF wins | Basis |
|---|
| DraftKings | 49.6% | 50.4% | moneyline -112 / -108, margin removed |
| Pinnacle | 48.5% | 51.5% | moneyline -112 / +101 · takes up to $10000 |
| Kalshi | 48.5% | 51.5% | winner market, bid/ask midpoint, locked before puck drop |
| Composite ours | — | — | not built yet |
| DRatings public model | 52.0% | 48.0% | projects 2.96–3.18 |
| Neil Paine Elo public model | — | — | not published for this game |
The pickers see DraftKings, Pinnacle and Kalshi. They never see the composite, DRatings or Paine's Elo - opinions get copied.
Goalies
| Team | Goalie | Status | Reported | GSAx | Sv% | GP |
|---|
| BUF | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | confirmed | 2026-10-01 15:29 UTC · Paul Hamilton | — | — | — |
| CBJ | Jet Greaves | confirmed | 2026-10-01 22:31 UTC · Mark Scheig | — | — | — |
DailyFaceoff's starter and status; "not reported" is its projection before any news. GSAx (goals saved above expected) and Sv% are this season's (MoneyPuck).
Rest and travel
| Team | Rest days | Back-to-back | 3 in 4 | Km | Time zones | Trip/stand game |
|---|
| BUF | — | no | no | 472 | 0 | 1 |
| CBJ | — | no | no | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Referees
Jon McIsaac, Francis Charron
announced 30 min before puck drop · linesmen Libor Suchanek, Jesse Marquis
Who is outESPN
| Team | Player | Status | Note |
|---|
| BUF | Alex Lyon | Injured Reserve | ir |
| BUF | Olen Zellweger | Injured Reserve | ir |
| BUF | Conor Timmins | Injured Reserve | Timmins (lower body) doesn't have a timeline for his return yet, according to Heather Engel of NHL.com on Tuesday. |
| BUF | Topias Leinonen | Injured Reserve | Leinonen (lower body) was placed on the injured non-roster list Monday. |
| BUF | Jack Rathbone | Injured Reserve | ir-nr |
| BUF | Jason Zucker | Injured Reserve | ir |