Sabres vs. Devils: Preview Of The Battle Of The Least

by Zachary Zielonka on Nov 10, 2010 10:02 AM EST

The Buffalo Sabres are trying to build off a crucial shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs with a game against the worst team in the National Hockey League, the New Jersey Devils. The New Jersey Devils come into this game with a 4-10-1 record and some injuries that have hampered their season since the last time these two team met, a 6-1 Sabres victory in Newark.

Notes For The Sabres

- Lindy Ruff will be coaching in his 1,000th game tonight. Ruff is the first coach to complete his first 1,000 games with the original team that hired him and the third coach ever to coach 1,000 games with one team.

- Patrick Lalime has been held out of the lineup due to a possible case of appendicitis and Ryan Miller will be the backup goaltender for starting goaltender Jhonas Enroth. Enroth won his first NHL game against the Maple Leafs on Saturday

- Other injuries of note for the Sabres: Rivet has missed some practice time with the flu; Stafford has been skating on his own after injuring his shoulder; and Gerbe skated with teammates in non contact drills.

Notes For The Devils

- Johan Hedberg will be in the net for the Devils as Martin Brodeur continues to recover from a bone bruise on his elbow. Hedberg was the goaltender in net for the 6-1 shellacking of the Devils last time.

- The Devils are the only other winless team at home with a record of 0-5-1 at home. The Buffalo Sabres are a respectable 4-3-1 on the road.

- Zach Parise, if you haven't heard, has been out of the lineup with a torn right meniscus in his knee.

- Rookie Mattias Tedenby will make his NHL debut against the Sabres. It is the eighth player to make his eighth NHL debut for the Devils this season.

Game time is at 7pm, game thread will be up at 6:30 pm.

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Comments

We better win tonight. Even though NJ isnt that good, with Brodeur in net they are still a team you have to respect… without him, you have to take advantage of that. Although if memory serves me right… Hedberg has a pretty good record against us throughout his career.

Yes we play all our games at 1 in the afternoon... but Id still like to see "Lights Out!" 8-)

Wake Up Sabres!!! Its officially "Go Time."

by bflo on Nov 10, 2010 10:23 AM EST reply actions

Yeah, 12-3-2 career with a .911 SV%

Die By The Blade - Where even we would rather watch the Bills.

by Zachary Zielonka on Nov 10, 2010 3:40 PM EST up reply actions

Gambling lock of the week

Mattias Tedenby will dominate the game and will probably be the first star. Every rookie who plays against the Sabres somehow plays like an all-star for that one game. How many goals does the immortal Derek Stepan have this year aside from his hat trick against Miller? Oh, that’s right, zero.

by Andy Boron on Nov 10, 2010 10:32 AM EST reply actions

Buffalo is playing their rookie goalie…the Devils will make him look like the second coming. Also any Sabre who hasn’t scored a goal in their career will also be potting their firsts of their careers as well.

I was just reading a Devils GDT and had to chuckle when I saw this comment. We feel your pain, NJ.

Also, apparently Lalime does NOT have appendicitis and will be backing up Enroth tonight.

by centzon on Nov 10, 2010 6:18 PM EST up reply actions

Two extremely desperate teams with something to prove. Should be more interesting than your typical Devils-Sabres game. Hopefully the Sabres can give Ruff a win for his milestone.

by lassathrax on Nov 10, 2010 1:46 PM EST reply actions