Buffalo Sabres Hope To Take Flight Against Red Wings
The Buffalo Sabres are coming off of a hard fought home win against the Los Angeles Kings; a game in which they were once again plagued by the coach’s challenge (drag that leg next time Gionta!) but came out on top because of the “never quit” attitude and play of Ryan O’Reilly. Tonight they face off agains the Detroit Red Wings, who have picked on the Sabres for a great deal of time now. As Buffalo moves into tonight’s game, they need to take everything that they did right against the Kings and apply it to the Red Wings.
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The Buffalo Sabres have not had great success agains the Detroit Red Wings for a decent amount of time now. Detroit has won their last 8 consecutive home games against the Sabres, and with how hot they are right now, I don’t foresee this game getting any easier.
The Red Wings have surged with their new young talent Dylan Larkin, as he has been a force to be reckoned with on the Red Wings top line. Combining his youth and skill with the experience and prowess of Red Wings Captain Henrik Zetterberg has payed dividends for the Red Wings this season. Their solid choices of youth (Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar) and veterans (Paval Datsyuk, Brad Richards) have created an offensive machine that has the capability of spewing out goals.
This is where the Buffalo Sabres will need to be careful. The Red Wings are a very creative and smart offensive bunch. In order for the Buffalo Sabres to have some form of success tonight, then they will need to rely on their offense just as much. Whether it be Chad Johnson or Linus Ullmark in goal, the Sabres defense will not be able to stifle the Red Wings offense all night, so the top two forward lines will be relied on heavily.
This is where the play of Ryan O’Reilly and Jack Eichel will come into play. These tow players are the top two centers for Buffalo and it will be up to them to, not only provide offense, but to set up the right play without mistake. Jamie McGinn has found his chemistry with O’Reilly recently, and Evander Kane has been solid as of late as well. The real dark horse for me is Matt Moulson though. He has not contributed offensively as much as he should be, and tonight may be the night he breaks that issue.
Matt Moulson has been playing hard and doing everything right defensively, but we need to see much more offense from him. Dan Bylsma needs to put this guy where he belongs, in front of the net. The Red Wings goalies are good battlers, but both of them are a little shaky with rebounds. Having Moulson in front of the net would provide more scoring chances in general, but would also help him break to of his slump.
Next: Sabres Finally Seeing Expected Results From Ristolainen
I expect tonight’s game to be a tough one for sure, but nonetheless I say… LET’S GO BUFFALO!!!