Buffalo Sabres return home trying to win their 7th in a row

Riding high on a 7 game winning streak and an exciting overtime win against Pittsburgh, the Buffalo Sabres return home to face the Philadelphia Flyers.

Not only did the Buffalo Sabres win their 6th in a row on Monday night in Pittsburgh, but they did so in thrilling fashion. With 15 minutes left in the 2nd period, the Sabres were already down 4-1. What followed was 2 goals in the 2nd period, 1 goal in the 3rd period, and an overtime winner from Jack Eichel.

What makes the comeback that much more impressive is who scored the goals for the Sabres. Other than the overtime winner, the Sabres did not need to rely on their top scorers of Captain Jack, Jeff Skinner, and Jason Pominville.

Tage Thompson (whom I recommended being sent down to Rochester) scored his first goal of the season, as did defenseman Casey Nelson. Zach Bogosian and Casey Mittelstadt also hit the back of the net.

The lineup for tonight’s game at home against the Philadelphia Flyers will be a little tweaked due to injuries to Marco Scandella and Patrik Berglund. Both Scandella and Berglund are day-to-day, Scandella with an upper body injury and Berglund with a lower body injury.

Evan Rodrigues returns to the lineup in place of Patrik Berglund. Rodrigues was a healthy scratch for the last 3 games and he will skate with Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons tonight.

Nathan Beaulieu (gasp) will take Marco Scandella’s place in the lineup and be paired with Casey Nelson. A healthy scratch against Pittsburgh, Nathan Beaulieu has struggled most of the season and has only played in 12 of the Sabres’ 21 games. If Scandella is out for an extended period of time I cannot imagine Beaulieu being a good candidate to replace him.

Carter Hutton will be back in net tonight for Buffalo. Hutton kept it together after allowing 4 goals in the first 25 minutes of the game and commented on the club’s knack for comebacks lately:

“Obviously, [coming from behind is] something we don’t want to get in the habit of, but it seems to be a habit. Just resiliency here. We never stop working.” – Carter Hutton

A win tonight will put the Buffalo Sabres in great position heading into Thanksgiving. The Sabres have won 7 of 10 games for the first time since March 2012 and they are looking for their 7th win a row. The last time the Sabres won 7 in a row was the start of the 2006-07 season.

To put this year’s winning streak in context, last year at this time the Sabres had just LOST their 7th in a row. Even more remarkable is the fact that the Sabres have a 7 point playoff cushion right now.

The Sabres will be facing a Flyers club that has lost 3 games in a row after winning 3 in a row. The streaks are a microcosm of the Flyers’ season, as they come into tonight with a .500 winning percentage. The Flyer’s goaltenders have been ravaged by injuries and Alex Lyon will be making his season debut tonight.

Tonight’s game can be seen on NBCSN and hear on WGR 550. Just a reminder, the Buffalo Sabres are 10-0-0 when Sam Reinhart records a point.