After five straight games at home where the Buffalo Sabres picked up seven of the ten points on offer, they go on the road now for five straight. It’s a shame that the Sabres are not in the weak Metropolitan Division where they would have been sitting comfortably in second place, and instead they are in the hotly contested Atlantic where as of Sunday night they are in fifth-place (but have games in hand over the three teams right in front of them).
The agglomeration of teams in the Eastern Conference is finally starting to clear up, though a streak of wins/losses by any team could muck it right up again.
In injury news, goaltender Alex Lyon has traveled with the team and per Lindy Ruff will definitely play this week, but forward Josh Norris did not travel and the head coach indicated that his injury has now become a week-to-week situation.
This week the Sabres play in Carolina and then Nashville back-to-back, before games at the Canadiens and then the Islanders. Notice how three of those teams are prominently visible in the graphic above.
Mon, Jan 19th, 1:30pm EST – Buffalo Sabres (26-16-5) at Carolina Hurricanes (30-15-4)
Tue, Jan 20th, 8pm EST – Buffalo Sabres at Nashville Predators (23-21-4)
Thu, Jan 22nd, 7pm EST – Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens (27-15-7)
Sat, Jan 24th, 1pm EST – Buffalo Sabres at New York Islanders (26-17-5)
The Amerks are just unable to solve division bottom-feeders, this time getting shutout by the Utica Comets as they win one, had one overtime defeat and one regulation loss.
Mon, Jan 19th, 1pm EST – Rochester Americans (19-13-4-1) at Syracuse Crunch (21-14-2-1)
Fri, Jan 23rd, 7:05pm EST – Rochester Americans vs Utica Comets (11-18-4-3)
Sat, Jan 24th, 5:05pm EST – Rochester Americans vs Cleveland Monsters (17-14-4-1)