Buffalo Sabres Look To Bounce Back Against Ducks
The Buffalo Sabres are coming off of a loss to the New Jersey Devils, and it was a game that left much to be desired. The game itself was slow paced and the offense looked like they all had an extra twenty pound weight strapped to their backs. Tonight, they look to their opponent the Anaheim Ducks for a much more hopeful result. Last season, the Buffalo Sabres were stifled left and right by the Ducks and lost both games. In one of those games (it was awful and painful to watch) the Sabres only managed to put up 12 shots. Tonight, they will look to improve overall and bring the pain.
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The Anaheim Ducks have not been their typical selves this year, and the stats speak for themselves in that regard. Ryan Getzlaf has only one goal, and Corey Perry has 10. On a team that is typically offensively sound, these struggles were found early in the season and don’t seem to be letting up. It was so bad at one point, that recently retired Duck Teemu Selanne had to make a video showing them how to score.
The Buffalo Sabres have had a bit of a different story. Their offense has typically not had too much of a problem getting going each night, and after being stifled against the Devils I expect the Sabres to be very goal hungry; especially Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane, and Jack Eichel.
The battle that will be seen, will be in goal. The Ducks will be playing John Gibson, and the Buffalo Sabres will be playing Chad Johnson. Gibson is still a young goaltender that is showing his potential and worth in the NHL, and recently, Johnson has been solid for Buffalo.
The key in tonight’s game will be the Buffalo Sabres ability to contain the Ducks’ top lines. They are already deprived of offense and frustrated, and to make their struggles even worse will only benefit Buffalo in the end. The frustration will lead to some stupid penalties being taken, possibly even in the Ducks offensive zone.
The Ducks are a big team with both skill and physicality to use at will, and the Buffalo Sabres will need to either match that physicality, or out skill them in every aspect possible. With the factors being thrown in on both sides, I am going to give the edge to Buffalo in this one.
The Buffalo Sabres have been a little streaky as far as winning goes, but I think they have the edge in tonight’s game solely because of the Ducks’ struggles on the front end. Ryan O’Reilly will be a controlling force as he usually is, and will be able to contain the likes of Ryan Getzlaf pretty well. The question mark is if Jack Eichel can match up to Ryan Kessler. Should Jack do that, the Sabres are almost guaranteed a victory.
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Let’s Go Buffalo!!