ARIZONA COYOTES VS BUFFALO SABRES 10/28/19 FREE PICK & NHL BETTING PREDICTION

The Buffalo Sabres are repeating last season's start all over again, but they hope to have a better final result when the dust settles on the standings.

The Atlantic Division club is 9-2-1 out of the gate on the 2019-20 campaign, gridding them as the top team in the Eastern Conference. The Washington Capitals of the Metro Division also have 19 points but have recorded that total in 13 games, one more than the Sabres.

Buffalo hosts Arizona on Monday night in the Coyotes' lone visit to western New York this season.

The Sabres just want to refrain from making the same mistakes that sunk them last season, which started off similarly. They won 10 consecutive games from Nov. 8 to Nov. 27 and topped the NHL standings with a 17-6-2 record just after Thanksgiving.

It was the first time the Sabres had ranked as the NHL's top team after October since 2006-07. In that season, they finished 53-22-7 and claimed the Presidents' Trophy with a league-best 113 points.

But last season was a different story, as Buffalo wrapped it up with a 33-39-10 mark and finished sixth in the eight-team Atlantic -- missing the playoffs by 22 points.

Buffalo hasn't made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2011, and another good start has fans in western New York dreaming about hockey in April and late spring.

The Sabres rebounded from Thursday's 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers with a 2-0 win over Detroit behind a 41-save shutout from Linus Ullmark.

Both of Buffalo's regulation losses have come in the front end of back-to-back games, but the club has bounced back with wins the next night.

"We've just got confidence in here. There's no panic," defenseman Jake McCabe said. "When you really narrow your focus, you can do a lot of good things."

Arizona has been doing plenty of good things, too.

The Coyotes, who also missed the postseason last year, are off to a 6-3-1 start in a competitive Pacific Division.

Like Buffalo, Arizona has also been streaking. A 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday was the Coyotes' first regulation defeat since Oct. 5 at home against Boston. Also similar to the Sabres, the Coyotes showed their resilience by winning 5-3 in New Jersey over the Devils on Friday, completing a tough run on the road of three games in four nights.

"I don't know if that was pretty, but we found a way (to win), and everybody battled hard," Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. "Some nights it's going to be like that, but that's what good teams do -- they find a way to win -- and I feel like we're a good team."

Coyotes rookie center Barrett Hayton, 19, notched his first career goal against New Jersey when he tapped in a pass from Nick Schmaltz to complete a 2-on-1 rush early in the third period for a 4-3 lead.

The fifth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Hayton was playing in just his third game and has produced a goal and an assist.