Buffalo Sabres can’t afford to take the Flyers lightly this year
By Sion Fawkes
The Buffalo Sabres will see the Philadelphia Flyers twice this week, with Game 1 taking place tonight and Game 2 this Friday.
When the Buffalo Sabres faced the Philadelphia Flyers last season, even the magical Goatheads weren’t enough to beat them. Philadelphia handed the Sabres their first and only loss in regulation in those famed jerseys in 2022-23, and this Friday, Buffalo will get another crack at Philadelphia while wearing the Goatheads, so maybe the result will be different this time around.
Before that, however, the Sabres will be back in action tonight in Philadelphia, and they cannot play down to the Flyers like they did last season. To be fair, the Flyers have played better than advertised so far, with nine points and one more overall than the Sabres. But this is also early November, so it’s premature to make any assumptions about teams playing well in October – just ask the Sabres how that went last season.
Buffalo Sabres can’t take the Flyers lightly, even with Philadelphia’s early success
This is a team coming off of a surprising shutout win, while wearing the Goatheads or not, vs. the Colorado Avalanche. Sure, the Avalanche were coming off of a bad performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the last thing the Sabres need right now is to crush one of the league’s best teams, then fall to someone who is likely a mid-tier group at best this year.
Last season, the Sabres got shutout themselves at the hands of the Flyers, before they put up another pitiful performance against them in March. They did win the third game, but once again, it goes right back to that what if factor – what if the Buffalo Sabres beat the lowly Flyers in just one of those two blowout losses?
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We all know the answer to that question, so the best thing the Sabres can do right now is to avoid a repeat of that. Go into Philadelphia, get your win, then repeat the process on what will be the final Goathead night for a while. Despite the Flyers above-average performance so far in 2023-24, these are two games Buffalo should win.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)