Buffalo Sabres Game Day: How The Blue And Gold Can Tame The Minnesota Wild
The Buffalo Sabres suffered a major collapse Tuesday night in Philadelphia; can the team rebound in time to pick up its first win at home?
The Buffalo Sabres might have let one slip away the other night against the Philadelphia Flyers, but life goes on, and here we are on another game day.
Yes – the Sabres have to play 77 more games still! The agony!
Even worse, the Sabres have to face the Minnesota Wild tonight, who own the second-best record in the Western Conference.
Seriously – the NHL is going to make Buffalo play this game?
One of the more interesting angles to watch tonight? The play of a few ex-Sabres players. Minnesota is enjoying production from both Chris Stewart (2-2-4) and Jason Pominville (2-1-3), while the Sabres are no better off than they were when they had either of those guys. It’s safe to say Pominville and Stewart got the better end of the trades that shipped them out of town.
Of course, there are more players than these ex-Sabres for Buffalo to worry about tonight. The Wild are not 4-2-1 with 9 points because of just two guys. Defenseman extraordinaire Ryan Suter leads the Wild with 7 points; newly-acquired Eric Staal is enjoying his new location; and Minnesota has 3 other players with 5 points in the team’s first 7 games. Throw in goaltender Devan Dubnyk‘s 2.01 GAA and .929 save percentage, and wheeeee!
Should be fun.
Should the Buffalo Sabres decide they want to try and win this here game tonight, here a few keys to success:
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1. Beware the second period.
Buffalo played strong for two periods and then let its foot of the gas in the third against the Flyers, getting outshot 19-5 and outscored 3-0. It’s a replay of what happened to the Sabres when they played in Calgary last week, as Buffalo twice owned – and lost – a lead in the third period against the Flames. As a result, the Sabres’ might be so focused on closing out the game that they find themselves in a gigantic hole before the third period even begins.
That’s because Minnesota leads the NHL with 15 second period goals, as per Twin Cities.com. Need recent proof? How about the four goals the Wild used to stun the Boston Bruins Tuesday evening en route to a 5-0 shellacking?
Even if the Sabres come out strong and take a lead into the first intermission, they should know that the game truly begins in the second period for these Wild.
2. Avoid untimely penalties.
Hey – sometimes, you have to take a penalty. Hockey is a physical sport, and not every penalty is a bad one . . . but the Sabres seem to be confused about WHEN is a good time to take a penalty, so let’s help them out a bit by pointing out some bad times to get sent to the sin bin:
- After you score a goal
- After they score a goal
- Under five minutes to go in the third
Better yet, Buffalo: try not to take any penalties at all, as I don’t trust your judgement right now.
3. Shoot. The Puck.
Like I said in my last game day post, this will be a recurring theme. Buffalo was outshot 41-25 by the Flyers Tuesday. That’s . . . not so good.
Stop that.
Next: Sabres OT Strategy Set To Become The NHL's Next Big Thing!
Our Fan Chatter piece for tonight’s game will be up in a bit, so be on the lookout for that, Buffalo Sabres fans! And if you’re headed to the game tonight, may I recommend a lot of beer to help get you through the evening? Like you needed me to tell you that!