Previewing the Buffalo Sabres 2022 Western Canada road trip

The Buffalo Sabres will now have a four game road trip. Here is a preview of the four games and the state of the Sabres after their first two contests.

After splitting the first two games of the season at home, the Buffalo Sabres will now head out West for a four game road trip, three of those games in Western Canada. In this order, the Sabres will face the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken.

Buffalo defeated Ottawa last Thursday but fell to the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon. Even though they lost, the Sabres showed fight against one of the best teams in the league. Before I talk about the next four games, I want to give a quick thought about the team.

Current state of the Buffalo Sabres

If there’s one thing they need to work on, it’s discipline. In two games, the Sabres have taken 10 penalties. Even though they killed off all four penalties against the Sens, Buffalo took six penalties in the Panthers game and allowed Florida to score twice on the power play.

Aside from discipline, the team has looked pretty good overall. They still need to work on some things obviously, but it’s only been two games, and they have plenty of time to figure it out. Okay let’s talk about the road trip, shall we?

Previewing the Sabres upcoming road trip

Up first, the Edmonton Oilers. It doesn’t get any easier for Buffalo as they will be taking on the Oilers. They were the runner up in the Western Conference Finals a season ago and will be another good test for this young Sabres team. For me, the key to winning this game is simple, stay out of the box.

I just talked about how Buffalo needs to be more disciplined. You cannot afford to take penalties against this Oilers team. As long as the Sabres stay disciplined, I think they can win this one. After Edmonton, the team will head off to Calgary.

Despite losing their two best players in the offseason, I still think the Flames will be a good team. They are 2-0 after defeating the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Oilers last week. The Flames still have another game in between now and when the Sabres play but the point still stands, it will be another good test for Buffalo.

After the Flames game, the Sabres will faceoff against the Canucks. I’m not sure what to think about the Canucks just yet so this could be a win for Buffalo. To conclude the road trip, the Sabres will take on the Seattle Kraken.

Even though Seattle got better in the offseason, the Sabres can win this one as well. It will also be our first look at Shane Wright. When all is set and done, I can see Buffalo splitting the four game trip but I can also see them taking 3/4.