Sabres Slashes: Weekly Preview 11/12/17-11/18/17

The Buffalo Sabres will look to get back on track, and gain some points in the standings since they are in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Florida Panthers.

The Sabres will take on the defending champions, Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. They will then travel to Detroit for a divisional matchup against the Red Wings. Buffalo will end the week at home to take on the Carolina Hurricanes.

Buffalo will have a tough task in trying to beat the Penguins even though they are struggling early in the season. The Sabres will need to slow down Phil Kessel and Evengy Malkin, who are both off to hot starts for the Pens. Kessel and Malkin are the offensive leaders in goals, assists and points for Pittsburgh. The Sabres will need to play the type of game that they played against the Capitals last week and be solid on the defensive end of the puck. Buffalo will need to eliminate turnovers and mistakes to have a shot at getting two points and the win. They should try to get pucks on net with traffic in front for rebounds or deflections. Robin Lehner or Chad Johnson is going to need to have a solid game in net for the Sabres.

Pittsburgh will need to get the first goal of the game since they play better when getting the first goal rather than being scored against first. The Pens need to have the lead entering the final frame since they have only forced overtime twice when trailing entering the third and don't have a win yet. They need to attack the defense of Buffalo and force turnovers since some key blue liners are out of the Sabres lineup. The Penguins will need to be aware of Evander Kane and Jack Eichel since they have been producing on a line together this year.

On Friday, the Sabres will have its first leg of a back-to-back situation. Buffalo will need to make sure that they are smart with and without the puck because the Red Wings can burn you with their speed in transition. The Sabres will need to make sure that the forwards help out and have decent gap control especially if they are still missing Marco Scandella and Rasmus Ristolainen on the back end. The Sabres need to get off to a better start then they have been because they've been outscored 17-10 in first periods of games. Buffalo needs to watch out for Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha, who are first and second on the team in scoring.

The Red Wings will need to score the first goal of the game, and get the home crowd involved early in the game. Detroit will need to have a good start against a team who doesn't start games very well by putting the pressure on early in the offensive zone. The Red Wings will need to be aware of Ryan O'Reilly since he is tied for third on the team in scoring and can defend. Detroit should establish a forecheck and cycle game early so they can have some sustained offensive pressure and make the Sabres defend, which they haven't been very good at this year.

Buffalo will end their week at home against the Hurricanes. The Sabres will need to keep an eye on Teuvo Teravainen and Jeff Skinner, who can put the puck in the net. Buffalo will need to have speed through the neutral zone and get in behind the Hurricanes defense. The Sabres need to limit their mistakes and turnovers since Carolina is a team that will capitalize on its opponents mistakes. Buffalo needs to get the lead and keep attacking, don't go into holding the lead mode because they will get burned.

The Hurricanes will need to get the first goal of the game since they are 5-1-1 when doing so. Caroline will need to be really good at even strength since the power play and penalty kill numbers haven't been through the roof good this year. The Canes will need to get the power play going against a team that can give up some goals. Carolina should expect a good game from its goalies since they should see plenty of rubber in this game. The Hurricanes need to get more offense from the defensemen this year since they haven't contributed much in the offensive zone so far.