The Buffalo Sabres are in New York to face the Islanders tonight. Here’s the pre-game report.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Islanders and Sabres have split the season series coming into today, each having won a game 3-1.
The Islanders have been good at home this year (23-12-4) while the Sabres have been horrible on the road (11-23-5).
The Islanders are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games, while the Sabres have struggled, going 1-8-1.
PLAYERS TO WATCH Below we look at notable players that have recently performed well or underperformed.
HOT STREAK N/A
COLD STREAK BUF: Jack Eichel has four points in his last nine games. BUF: Kyle Okposo has one point in his last 10 games. BUF: Jason Pominville has one point in his last nine games. BUF: Sam Reinhart has four points in his last 13 games. BUF: Jeff Skinner has two points in his last 11 games. NYI: Anthony Beauvillier has one point in his last eight games. NYI: Casey Cizikas has one point in his last nine games. NYI: Leo Komarov has two points in his last 11 games. NYI: Andrew Ladd has one point in his last nine games. NYI: Nick Leddy has two points in his last 10 games. NYI: Anders Lee has two points in his last six games.
GOALIE MATCHUP (Projected Starters, Unconfirmed at time of post) BUF: Carter Hutton has a 1-1-0 career record and a .910 save percentage against the Islanders. NYI: Robin Lehner has a 2-2-2 career record and a .929 save percentage against the Sabres.
PERFORMANCE VS OPPONENT Below, we look at how each player has historically performed vs the opponent.
*Note: I realize PPG isn’t an accurate measure for defenders, but without getting into point shares/deeper defensive stats, analysis for defense will be based on their offensive history.*
NYI INDIVIDUAL vs BUF
OVERPERFORMERS Casey Cizikas= 0.59 PPG (17 GP, 10 Points), Career= 0.32 PPG Cal Clutterbuck= 0.50 PPG (16 GP, 8 Points), Career= 0.29 PPG Leo Komarov= 0.47 PPG (19 GP, 9 Points), Career= 0.36 PPG Tom Kuhnhackl= 0.50 PPG (8 GP, 4 Points), Career= 0.24 PPG Robin Lehner= .929 SV%, Career= .917 SV%
NO DIFFERENCE Josh Bailey= 0.51 PPG (35 GP, 18 Points), Career= 0.54 PPG Anthony Beauviller= 0.25 PPG (8 GP, 2 Points), Career= 0.40 PPG Michael Dal Colle= 0.00 PPG (2 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.17 PPG Nick Leddy= 0.42 PPG (19 GP, 8 Points), Career= 0.43 PPG Matt Martin= 0.21 PPG (28 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.19 PPG Scott Mayfield= 0.33 PPG (6 GP, 2 Points), Career= 0.26 PPG Ryan Pulock= 0.25 PPG (4 GP, 1 Point), Career= 0.44 PPG Devon Toews= 0.00 PPG (2 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.36 PPG
UNDERPERFORMERS Anders Lee= 0.47 PPG (15 GP, 7 Points), Career= 0.61 PPG Mathew Barzal= 0.40 PPG (5 GP, 2 Points), Career= 0.90 PPG Johnny Boychuk= 0.17 PPG (36 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.30 PPG Jordan Eberle= 0.46 PPG (13 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.72 PPG Brock Nelson= 0.31 PPG (16 GP, 5 Points), Career= 0.50 PPG Adam Pelech= 0.00 PPG (7 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.24 PPG
BUF INDIVIDUAL vs NYI
OVERPERFORMERS Zemgus Girgensons= 0.43 PPG (14 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.28 PPG
NO DIFFERENCE William Borgen= N/A, Career= 0.00 PPG Rasmus Dahlin= 0.00 PPG (2 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.53 PPG Jack Eichel= 0.82 PPG (11 GP, 9 Points), Career= 0.90 PPG Carter Hutton= .910 SV%, Career= .913 SV% Johan Larsson= 0.17 PPG (12 GP, 2 Points), Career= 0.24 PPG Casey Mittelstadt= 1.00 PPG (1 GP, 1 Point), Career= 0.38 PPG Brandon Montour= 0.25 PPG (4 GP, 1 Point), Career= 0.39 PPG Casey Nelson= 0.50 PPG (2 GP, 1 Point), Career= 0.19 PPG Alexander Nylander= N/A, Career= 0.38 PPG Kyle Okposo= 0.71 PPG (7 GP, 5 Points), Career= 0.65 PPG Victor Olofsson= N/A, Career= 1.00 PPG Lawerence Pilut= 0.00 PPG (1 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.21 PPG Jason Pominville= 0.78 PPG (40 GP, 31 Points), Career= 0.69 PPG Sam Reinhart= 0.55 PPG (11 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.62 PPG Marco Scandella= 0.33 PPG (15 GP, 5 Points), Career= 0.24 PPG Jeff Skinner= 0.66 PPG (29 GP, 19 Points), Career= 0.67 PPG Vladimir Sobotka= 0.36 PPG (14 GP, 5 Points), Career= 0.32 PPG
UNDERPERFORMERS Conor Sheary= 0.23 PPG (13 GP, 3 Points), Career= 0.49 PPG
General Summary
The Islanders and Sabres have split the season series so far, each winning by identical margins as they lost. No advantage.
The Islanders have been much better at home (23-12-4) than the Islander have been on the road. The Islanders have also been much better in their last 10 games (6-4-0) than the Sabres (1-8-1). Advantage NYI.
Both teams only have players on cold streaks, but for Buffalo, it’s the majority of their top forwards. Slight advantage NYI.
Robin Lehner has been better against Buffalo (.929 SV%) than Carter Hutton has been against the Islanders (1-1-0). Advantage NYI.
Buffalo has very few players who have either historically overperformed or underperformed against the Islanders. The Islanders have both overperformers and underperformers, however most of the underperformers are made up of New York’s best players, while the bottom-six forwards make up the overperformers. Slight advantage BUF.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m.