Week 17 was not good for the Buffalo Sabres as the team went 0-2. After a frustrating loss to the Dallas Stars Tuesday night, Buffalo's offensive struggles showed up yesterday afternoon where they lost to the St. Louis Blues. Turning the page to Week 18, the Sabres will play three games. Two of the games will be at home as they will wrap up their four game homestand.
Up first, the Los Angeles Kings will come to town Tuesday night. It will be the final meeting between Buffalo and Los Angeles as the Sabres won the first meeting at the end of January. While Los Angeles has come back down to Earth after starting out well, they still pose a threat to the Sabres. They are fourth place in the Pacific Division with a record of 24-15-10 and have 58 points.
This game will mean something to the Kings as they are in the first wild card spot, so the Sabres will have their hands full. It won't get any easier for Buffalo when the Florida Panthers come to town next. Florida is having an impressive season as they have 70 points on the year with a 33-15-4 record at the moment. Former Sabre Sam Reinhart is having a stellar year with 39 goals which is second best in the NHL.
It's not saying much, but again, this is a game where Buffalo will have to play their best game against a very talented Panthers team. To close out Week 18, the Sabres will be in the State of Hockey for a matchup against the Minnesota Wild. The Wild are a .500 team at this moment, subject to change with games this week before their meeting with Buffalo. While the Sabres playoff chances are slimming, the Wild are fighting to keep up in the race.
For the prediction, I only have the Sabres winning one game. They will lose to both Los Angeles and Florida, but win against the Wild on Saturday.