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Break Up The Sabres

October 21, 2018, 11:19 PM ET [9 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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Big win out west! ⚔️ #LetsGoBuffalo #Sabres

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Break up the Buffalo Sabres.

Just when you thought their proverbial goose was cooked against the Anaheim Ducks, the Sabres snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

The young upstarts from Buffalo set out on a cross country journey to find their identity. After an eight day retreat, their identity revealed itself in the form of a team that will bounce back and win games after playing poorly and being drubbed by the elite teams in the NHL.

Beating the Coyotes was easy. Losing one-sided decisions to the Golden Knights and Sharks was brutal. Avenging the anger and disappointment of those losses by beating the Kings and Ducks helped to reveal the true character of the Sabres. Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner and the Sabres may wobble but they won’t fall down. They have a short memory and will react positively to adjustments to their lineup.

The Sabres now head east with a solution to the scoring woes they suffered before their five game western roadie. The Sabres out scored their opponents 14-12 on their five game western road trip.

The Sabres put a damper on Paul Kariya's jersey retirement night in Anaheim.

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Forever in the rafters. #RetireThe9

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Playing in their fourth and final game in six nights and fifth game in seven nights, Phil Housley's revamped Sabres were committed to heading home on a high note.

The Sabres spotted Ryan Miller and the Ducks two goals then scored the next four markers to lock down the 4-2 win and more importantly, a 3-2 winnng record on their wild western roadie.


Last Saturday night, the Sabres defeated the Arizona Coyotes.

Then, on Tuesday night they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights. On Thursday night, the San Jose Sharks devoured the Sabres. On Saturday afternoon, Buffalo defeated the LA Kings. The Sabres chose to stand and fight rather than roll over and die in Anaheim.


The Sabres heard my prediction and won 3 of 5 games against Western opponents.

The last time the Sabres won five games in the month of October was in 2001.

Last week, I called my shot and correctly predicted the Sabres would handle the Coyotes then win two of their four games against the Knights, Sharks, Kings and Ducks.




In Anaheim, Kyle Okposo, Patrik Berglund and Rasmus Ristolainen scored their first goals of the season. Ristolainen scored the game winning goal. Ristolainen's goal was the sixth goal scored by six diferent Sabres defensemen this season.

Phil Houlsey implores his D to jump up pand support the rush and that is exactly what his defensemen have been doing in the first nine games of the season. Only one Sabres D-man, Casey Nelson, has been left off the score sheet in 9 games played this season.

Last season, Sabres defenseman scored just 19 goals combined in 82 games played. This season, the Buffalo rear guards are engaged, active and contributing timely goal scoring.

The Buffalo power play finished 2 for 4 on with the man advantage.

Buffalo are now 5-4 this season and trail the Toronto Maple Leafs by only two points in the Atlantic Division standings.




Current Atlantic Standings:

Leafs- 12 points
Bolts-11 points
Habs- 10 points
Bruins- 10 points
Sabres- 10 points



Don't look now, but if the Stanley Cup playoffs began today, the Buffalo Sabres would have claimed a wild card berth.

You can kiss goodbye the Buffalo Sabres tanking days and NHL Lottery picks.

The Sabres only won two straight games on 4 occasions last season, and they only extended their win streak to 3 on one of those occasions. The Sabres can achieve that goal when they host Montreal on Thursady night.

The Sabres entered Sunday night's game with the Ducks with a pathetic 4 for 29 power play efficiency. However, the re-tooled PP units scored 2 PPG on 4 PP attempts to power the Sabres to victory.


The Ducks entered the game ranked dead last in the NHL for allowing an average of 37 shots against on their goalie per game. They allowed 45 shots on Ryan Miller on 71 shot attempts. The Ducks have now lost two straight games after winning four in a row.





For the second game in a row, the newly minted line of Jeff Skinner-Jack Eichel and-Jason Pominville were the difference makers for the Sabres. In Buffalo's 5-1 win in LA on Saturday, the 53-9-29 trio combined for 4 goals and five assists, 13 shot attempts, 11 shots on gaol and a +11 rating. Jeff Skinner potted the hat trick in the victory.

In Anaheim on Sunday night, Skinner-Eichel-Pominville combined for another Skinner goal and three assists. Skinner recorded 5 goals and two assists in Buffalo's five-game Arizona-California road trip, including scoring his fith career hat trick in Hollywood on Saturday afternoon.

Skinner is going to get paid handsomely when he signs his contract extension with the Sabres. Skinner, 26, is in the final year of a 6-year, $34 million contract that carries a $5.275M AAV. Skinner will be asking for and achieving Evander Kane's 7 year, $49 million contract.


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