Buffalo Sabres Hope For Better Results Against Predators

The Buffalo Sabres last encounter with the Nashville Predators did not go as well as it could have. Linus Ullmark had a tough night by letting in three goals on eight shots, and the offense was nowhere to be seen until the third period. Though it seemed like the Sabres were being overrun, they were actually playing a very strong game. Tonight, the Sabres once again take on the Preds, but this time they will look to do a much better job in every facet of their game. Though the defense did not give up many scoring chances to the Preds, the ones that were given up were scored on.

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Tonight, the Buffalo Sabres will need to be much tighter in every aspect of their game. The defense needs to keep tabs on the Predators forwards, and more importantly, the Sabres forwards will play a key role as well. With the Nashville Predators, they have some incredible offensive support from their defensemen, so there will need to be some stellar two-way play by every Sabres forward.

Offensive players like Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Reinhart, and Zemgus Girgensons will play the biggest roles tonight in both ends. All three of these players are the most defensively responsible forwards that the Sabres have, but they all also possess a great transition game to turn a great defensive play into an offensive scoring chance.

On top of it all, the Buffalo Sabres finally snapped their six game losing streak so I expect them all to be fired up and ready for tonight’s game. Though we might see some lag in them from last night’s game, the Sabres should be firing on all cylinders.

Jack Eichel has been more of an offensive force as of late, and having him heat up is nothing but positive for Buffalo. He seems to have found some good chemistry with Ryan O’Reilly whenever he gets a slight chance to play with him, so I hope to see them together at least on the power play tonight. Eichel got the Sabres to within one goal of tying the game agains the Predators last time, and the pass was a laser from O’Reilly so I am sure I’m not the only one to think that they’d have some power play success together.

With the Sabres goaltending situation still a whirlwind of chance, there is no better choice at this point between the two we have to pick from. Chad Johnson had a pretty solid night last night, but with the back to back games happening, I expect Linus Ullmark to start tonight. It would be a nice chance at redemption for him to get another shot against the Predators; and I say to give him that chance. He is young and hungry to play and prove himself, so I say to let the kid gain some confidence and fight for his chance to prove he can do better than his last performance.

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Let’s hope the Buffalo Sabres can turn this into a nice little win streak. LET’s GO BUFFALO!