It has been a rollercoaster of a week for the Buffalo Sabres with a huge win over the Carolina Hurricanes before ugly losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils. They would rebound with unexpected performance against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night that ended in a 3-2 shootout victory.
The Sabres have to find some consistency, and if recent performance is any indication, an early lead can help them secure a win over the Winnipeg Jets.
As for the Winnipeg Jets, they are coming off a win over the Nashville Predators prior to the game against Buffalo. However, before that they had lost four straight and had really struggled without Connor Hellebuyck, who is out due to a knee injury.
Buffalo Sabres can't sit back and need to score the first goal of the game against the Winnipeg Jets
Over the last five games for the Winnipeg Jets, they have only scored the opening goal once and that was the game they won against Nashville. In the prior four games, which were all losses, the opposing team would score first.
For the Sabres, they have struggled early in games and been outscored 27-20 in the first period. However, when they do score first they are almost unbeatable and are 6-0-0 in the six home games they have scored first, but are 2-5-2 when the opposing team opens the scoring.
There is no question that whichever team scores the opening goal can't sit back, as there is still usually a lot of hockey left to be played. However, the Sabres play with a different level of confidence and can play more of their style instead of having to press to try and tie the game back up.
The Buffalo Sabres will look to put an end to the rollercoaster season they have had and an early goal against the Winnipeg Jets can go a long way in achieving that.