The Sabres playing host to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers. On Saturday, they will be in Montreal to face the Canadiens. The Sabres have a chance to gain some points this week as they face two teams that are struggling in the Oilers and Habs.
The Sabres will need to get a ton of traffic in front of Sergei Bobrovsky for deflections and second chances. They will need to avoid turnovers and play a smart, defensive game overall. Buffalo will also need to have a good showing from the goalie because the Blue Jackets can put some pucks in the net. The Sabres need to get off to a good start and be a lot better at even strength than they have been so far this year. Buffalo will need to take advantage of a weak road penalty kill of Columbus. The Sabres will need to pay attention when Zach Werenski, Seth Jones and Artemi Panarin are on the ice for the Blue Jackets because those three can put up some numbers in the offensive zone.
The Blue Jackets need to get their power play going and this game would be a perfect time to start since the Sabres have one of the worse penalty kills in the League. Columbus will need to have a solid 60 minute effort. The Blue Jackets will need to stay out of the penalty box because the Sabres may be struggling on the power play right now, but they still have some guys that can put the puck in the net. They will just need to shoot the puck since the defense and goaltending hasn't been spectacular this year for Buffalo. Columbis is going to need to find a way to keep Evander Kane off the score sheet since he is first in goals and points on the Sabres.
The Wild come to town on Tuesday night, and this won't be an easy game for the Sabres. Buffalo will need to find a way to solve goaltender, Devan Dubnyk, should he start. The Sabres will need to get off to a better start since they have been outscored in the first period of games this year. Buffalo will need to play a disciplined game because the Wild have a decent power play with plenty of fire power on it. Buffalo will need to get some sustained offensive zone pressure by getting in on the forecheck, winning board battles and cycling the puck.
Minnesota needs to get the first goal of the game to take the crowd out of the game and the Sabres have only won two games when the opposition has scored first. The Wild will need to have the lead entering the third period since they only have one third period win when trailing after two periods. Minnesota will need to play a 60 minute game meaning they need to find a way to be better in the second period of games. The Wild need to attack the Sabres defense and have speed entering the offensive zone.
Buffalo will face Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. The Sabres will need to know where McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are at all times when they are on the ice. Buffalo needs to stay out of the penalty box, and play team defense. The Sabres will need to have the lead entering the final period. Buffalo will want to get more offense from the defense, which has been difficult to do this year. They need to make sure they are crisp with their passes and have easy exits out of their own zone. They also need to get some production out of the bottom six forwards, who have a combined 24 points.
The Oilers need to get their secondary scoring going and in a hurry. It has been McDavid leading this team in every offensive scoring category. They need to get more production from guys like Milan Lucic, Ryan Strome, Leon Draisaitl and company. The bottom six of the Oilers only have 20 combined points on the season. The Oilers need to get the first goal of the game and just keep attacking the Sabres. The goalie is going to need to come up big and they will also need a max effort from everyone on the ice for a full 60 minutes.
The Sabres will need to contain Jonathan Drouin and Brendan Gallagher when they take on the Habs on Saturday. Buffalo will need to get the first goal of the game to take the crowd out of the game. The Sabres need to get the power play going and have a big game from whichever goalie should make the start. Buffalo needs to be better at even strength and just attack the Habs.
The Canadiens will need to have a solid effort in this game and put the work in to win a game. They need to get off to a better start and stay out of the penalty box. The Habs will need to be good at even strength and really apply some pressure since the Sabres do allow goals and in bunches. Montreal will need to have a solid game from the goalie, and may even need the goaltender to steal them this game. The Canadiens will need to find a way to contain Jack Eichel and Evander Kane.
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