Getcha popcorn ready!
The Buffalo Sabres kick off their three game road trip in Edmonton tonight.
Sabres fans will have to wait a few months to savor the first ever NHL flavored Jack Eichel vs. Connor McDavid head-to-head battle.
On Saturday, Eichel dumped a bucket of cold water on the Edmonton media's agenda to get the 19 year old American Sniper to speak on the record about the Eichel-McDavid thing.
“I don’t really put much thought into it. That’s why I don’t really talk about it,… Eichel said politely. “If I were to speak for Connor I’m sure he’s not too worried about it. I’m not either. We’re both in our respective cities playing for our own teams and worried about ourselves and our well-being.…
Buffalo has earned least one point in four straight games and have three wins in that span. On Friday night , the Sabres spanked the Arizona Coyotes 5-2.
The Sabres have finally broken on through to the other side of their recent scoring slump and are lighting the lamp with regularity. There was a stretch of black ice from 11/14 to 11/25 when the Sabres could only score 6 games in 6 games. The Sabres have now scored 17 goals in their past 4 games.
The Oilers have won three won three straight games, and have grabbed a point in four of their last five games.
I'm expecting an all Swedish goaltending battle of Linus Ullmark vs. Anders Nilsson.
Oilers head coach Todd McClellan had high praise for the retrofit Sabres.
“I got to see some of their game from (Friday) night,… said Oilers Head Coach Todd McLellan. “They are a team that’s in transition. They’ve done a very good job at restocking their team and putting a foundation in place. Their players have bought in and they’re winning some games. They’re a hard team to play against right now. I can see some graduation in individuals that are young players now turning into old ones.…
McLellan and the Oilers will have their hockey mitts full trying to contain several red hot Sabres.
Rasmus Ristolainen has accumulated 18 points (4G, 14A) in his first 26 games of the season. Samson Reinhart is now producing big time on Buffalo's number one line alongside Ryan O'Reilly and Evander Kane. Reinhart has 7 (3 game winners) goals in 26 games, while 2015 second-overall pick Jack Eichel has 8 goals and is third on the team in scoring with 13 points (8G, 5A).
Ryan O’Reilly leads the Sabres in scoring with 21 points (8G, 13) in 26 games. He has four goals and two assists in his last three games.
“The presentation of Buffalo will be a tough one for us, the way they play and how they attack,… said McLellan. “For us, it will be mental and physical tomorrow. Our schedule has been grinding. We’ve played a lot of games in a short period. I would like us to play a smarter game than we played against Dallas. As far as the Xs and Os, we’re still working on that today and will be preparing them tomorrow morning for that.…
On Friday night, Evander Kane scored twice and Samson Reinhart, Jamie McGinn, and Marcus Foligno added goals in the 5-2 win over the Desert Dogs.
Chad Johnson made 18 saves on the 20 shots that he faced. The Buffalo PP went 0/2 while their PK killed all three penalties they were faced with.
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On Friday, Tim Murray assigned forward Tim Schaller to Rochester.
On Saturday, Murray recalled forward Cal O’Reilly from Rochester.
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The 4-1-1:
â—¾Tonight’s game is the first in a three-game western swing. The team will visit Vancouver tomorrow night before heading to Calgary for a matchup with the Flames on Thursday.
â—¾Despite their 7-3-0 record and plus-15 goal differential (35-20) in their last 10 games against the Edmonton, the Sabres need a win tonight to avoid losing three straight games to the Oilers for the first time since Oct. 13 2000 to March 4, 2002.
â—¾Ryan O’Reilly (21:49) led all NHL forwards in average ice time per game entering play Saturday and Evander Kane (20:59) ranked third.
WHO’S HOT? â—¾Evander Kane enters tonight’s game having recorded three straight two-point games for the first time since Jan. 22 to 27, 2013. A point tonight would give him his first four-game point streak since he had points in eight straight from Feb. 12 to 26, 2013. Kane has never logged four consecutive multi-point games. â—¾Jamie McGinn is on his first four-game point streak (2+3) since April 5 to 10, 2014 (1+3). A point tonight would tie his career-best five-game point streak set from March 12 to 19, 2014 (3+4). â—¾Rasmus Ristolainen has 13 points (3+10) in his last 13 games. â—¾Ryan O’Reilly has five points (1+4) in his last five games. â—¾Sam Reinhart has three goals in his last three games.
Brotherly Love â—¾With Cal O’Reilly’s recall from the Rochester Americans, he and Ryan O’Reilly have a chance to become the second pair of brothers ever to play for the Sabres at the same time. The other pair, Bob and J.F. Sauve, played together from 1980-81 to 1982-83. â—¾The Sabres have had three other pairs of siblings who both played for the team, but never in the same season: Randy and Mike Moller, James and Steve Patrick, Darryl and Darrin Shannon
Tonight’s game begins Buffalo’s fourth of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which continues tomorrow night at Vancouver. The Sabres are 1-2-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 2-1-0 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (1), one point (0) and zero points (1).
Age Means Nothing â—¾With a combined 15 goals through Buffalo’s first 26 games, Jack Eichel (8) and Sam Reinhart (7) are currently on pace to become the second pair of rookies in Sabres history to each record 20 goals in the same season. The other pair was Danny Gare (31) and Peter McNab (22) in 1974-75.
â—¾If they maintain their current pace, Eichel (8+5) and Reinhart (7+3) would also be the first pair of Sabres rookies to surpass the 30-point mark since Thomas Vanek (48) and Jason Pominville (30) did so in 2005-06.
Risto Flirting With Norris Trophy Consideration â—¾Entering Saturday’s games, Rasmus Ristolainen ranked in the top 15 among NHL defensemen in goals (T-15th, 4), assists (T-6th, 14), points (T-7th, 18), shots (T-11th, 65) and multi-point games (T-5th, 5). He is the first Sabres defenseman to record five or more multi-point games in a season since Christian Ehrhoff had six in 2011-12.
â—¾With 18 points (4+14) in 26 games, Ristolainen is on pace for 57 points this season. If he reaches the 50-point mark, Ristolainen would be the first Sabres defenseman with 50 points in a season since Garry Galley (1995-96) and the youngest to reach that mark since Phil Housley.
Sabres-Bills Play Today â—¾The Sabres and the Buffalo Bills are playing on the same day for the third time this season after their respective games on Nov. 12 and 23.
â—¾The teams have played on the same date 211 times, with both teams winning their respective games on 47 of those days.
â—¾The Sabres are 113-65-33 when playing on a Bills game day and the Bills are 89-120-2 on those dates.
â—¾If both teams win tonight, the Sabres and Bills will both have won on the same date twice in the same season for the first time since Nov. 5 and Nov. 26, 2006.
The Oilers have been playing well despite injuries to key positions.
Connor McDavid, Rob Klinkhammer and Nail Yakupov already have been in the repair shop. On Saturday, Andrew Ference and Benoit Pouliot were both placed on IR and the club recalled forward Ryan Hamilton on emergency basis.
“We’re missing a whole line on offence (Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov) and we’ve managed to get points in four of our last five,… Taylor Hall tlod the team's website on Saturday.
“That’s not easy to do and we’ve played some quality teams. You hope that this is the worst of it and once we get some guys back they stay back and guys like myself stay healthy. That’s the name of the game. You look at the best teams in the league and when they finish at the top of the standings they’re always healthy throughout the year and we need to try and stay healthy.…
McDavid played brilliantly in the first 13 games of the season, however, he will not return to the Oilers' starting lineup until late January. McDavid suffered a clavicle injury against Philly.
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Projected Oilers Lines:
Hall-Draisaitl-Eberle Purcell-RNH-Pakarinen Hendricks-Letestu-Korpiloski Gazdic-Lander-Ghaira
D Pairs:
Nurse-Sekera Klefbom-Fayne Gryba-Schultz
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Happy Independence Day To @rasmrist55 and Finland @BuffaloSabres https://t.co/AsUtE3xAQp
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) December 6, 2015
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