Buffalo Sabres Pre Game Skate: Los Angeles Kings
Fresh off a loss to the Anaheim Ducks, the Buffalo Sabres are right back in action tonight against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings (ugh, just typing that makes me shudder).
The Sabres hope to bounce back after a good effort last night, but will need to put more pucks to the back of the net. Goal scoring has plagued them once again this year, and it’s not going to help against a team that has proven it can win despite the odds.
In order for the Sabres to win tonight, there needs to be a much better power play. The fact that they have not scored while a man up does not help win games. They have had plenty of power play time, but as per the usual format, the time is spent fiddling around with the puck at the blue line, the boards, and ultimately chasing it back into their own end. It’s rather painful to watch sometimes so they need to get that act together.
The Kings will most likely be getting a key defensive piece back in their lineup with Jake Muzzin possibly returning.
Starting Lineups
The Buffalo Sabres top line will feature Tyler Ennis at center between Matt Moulson and Brian Gionta. That line last night conjured up the only goal and it was off a broken play. In the end they put the puck in the back of the net, and thats more than the rest of them can say (cough cough Chris Stewart).
The kings will feature their top line of Anze Kopitar, Dwight King, and Dustin Brown. This line can cause all kinds of havoc for any team due to the offensive prowess of Kopitar (and sometimes Brown) and the gritty style of King so expect that line to cause a lot of trouble.
Starting Goaltender for the Sabres will be Jhonas Enroth, as it is a back-to-back game. He will look to have a much better performance than what was put together in Boston and hopefully pull out a Sabres win tonight.
Starting for the Kings may be Martin Jones, but don’t be surprised if the Kings put in Jonathan Quick in order to help better secure 2 points. With a tough western conference this year, the kings will need all the points they can get, and (despite my opinion) Quick gives them the best chance at that each night.
My Prediction
I’m going to go out on a limb here for the sake of, not only positivity, but for the fact that I do not like the LA Kings. Not even a little bit. And no i’m not afraid to say it.
It may not seem realistic to many reading this, but for the sake of fully supporting the team I love most, and to tell off the team I dislike the most (everyone has a team like that and you know it), I am going to say that the Buffalo Sabres will win this one 3-0 tonight.
I’ve been looking forwards to this game since the start of the year so the Sabres would have the chance to make fools of the Kings in their own building. Considering how well they did play in Anaheim, I do believe that they can do it. They had the desire and drive to win and tonight may be their night.
LETS GO BUFFALO!!