The Buffalo Sabres recent history is not good against their Atlantic Division rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now, they have an opportunity to change that.
Recent history against the Tampa Bay Lightning has not been kind to the Buffalo Sabres. They embarrassed Tampa 5-1 a little over a year ago on October 25th, 2021, but before and after, they are just 0-9-1 against what has been arguably the Eastern Conference’s best team over the past half-decade.
Want more fun? On the road versus the Lightning, they are 0-5-1, and in those games, have been outscored by an average of 4.83 to 2.5, so it’s safe to say Amalie Arena isn’t the team’s favorite road venue.
Coming off of a tough loss to the Carolina Hurricanes just last night, momentum surely isn’t on the Sabres side. But the opportunity to put a team on upset alert is, and it is what the Sabres will look to do in tonight’s matchup against Tampa Bay.
Buffalo Sabres and their power play vs. Lightning
While on paper, the Sabres look as though they have everything except a power play going for them against Tampa, I digress. The opportunity to pull off an upset over last season’s Eastern Conference Champions would move this team up another rung in putting the league on notice that they are back and a more dangerous group than they have been in years.
And it would even add to their credibility as such a win would occur during a back-to-back road set, while still missing three of their top six defensemen. The odds are stacked against the Sabres in this one, but a win would pay massive dividends both tonight and in the foreseeable future – assuming the Sabres don’t suffer another one of their infamous monumental collapses.
It won’t be an easy task, however. Last night, I said the Sabres still have a long way to go before they can claim to be one of the Eastern Conference’s better hockey teams since they lag in experience against the likes of the championship-caliber Carolina Hurricanes. And that extends to teams like Tampa Bay, who have made deep playoff runs the norm.
Article Source: Observations: Sabres’ three-game winning streak wiped out as Sebastian Aho hat trick sparks Hurricanes by Mike Harrington
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