Buffalo Sabres must get it together defensively to win against Carolina

The Buffalo Sabres struggled defensively and in the net during Thursday’s 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues, and that can’t happen tonight.

The Buffalo Sabres, before anything else, must stop breaking down so quickly when they don’t have the puck and allow early goals. Although they ended up tying the game at three in their eventual 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the early goal allowed foreshadowed a disappointing evening as they forced themselves to play catch-up hockey early.

While the Carolina Hurricanes lost their previous game in a high-scoring duel to the New York Islanders, they still put up 43 shots on goal to New York’s 16. That said, expect the ‘Canes to come into this game firing the puck once more, especially if they’re looking to take advantage of what has been bad defensive play early in some games for the Sabres.

Buffalo Sabres cannot afford another bad defensive outing against Hurricanes

Luckily for the Sabres, they had one of their better defensive games the last time they met Carolina. It was a game in which they skated away with a point thanks to an overtime loss, but it’s hard to have faith in a team that gave up six goals on Thursday, and at one point, allowed two in 24 seconds.

In the first period, not only did they allow an early goal, but the Blues scored again at the 5:02 mark, so this team has a lot to bounce back from when they don’t have the puck. The last thing the Buffalo Sabres need is to start off December with another L and set themselves back even further in the win-loss (and points) column.

The good news is that this team got hot last December, so perhaps they will find their high-octane game once more this year. But that doesn’t mean they can slack defensively, so let’s hope the Blue and Gold play a better game when they don’t have the puck.

Source: Game Preview | 5 things to know ahead of Sabres at Hurricanes by Jourdon LaBarber, Sabres.com

(Information provided by Hockey-Reference)