Game #15
Buffalo Sabres (8-3-3, 19PTS) vs. St. Louis Blues (5-7-1, 11PTS)
7:00 PM EST, HSBC Arena
TV: MSG-B (Buffalo)
Radio: WGR 550 (Buffalo), XM 204 (National)
07-08 Series: 0-1-0
Enemy Blogs: St. Louis Gametime
Players to Watch
Buffalo Sabres: Tim Connolly (1G-2A-3P in last two games), Thomas Vanek (12G-3A-15P), Ales Kotalik (5G-5A-10P), Jason Pominville (4G-6A-10P)
St. Louis Blues: Andy McDonald (4G-12A-16P, three goals in last three games), Brad Boyes (8G-6A-14P, 1G-2A-3P in last two games), Patrick Berglund (4G-4A-8P, 3G-2A-5P in last four games), Lee Stempniak (1G-5A-6P, West Seneca native has 1G-4A-5P in last three games), Keith Tkachuk (9G-2A-11P)
Preview
The Sabres are coming off of a 3-1 loss in Boston on Saturday night. Buffalo is 2-3-2 in their last seven games and the only two victories came in Ryan Miller shutouts. The last time the Sabres won a game and allowed a goal in the same game was a comeback victory over the Minnesota Wild on October 23.
It is expected that Lindy Ruff is making some lineup changes for the game tonight. After sitting out the past couple of games Andrew Peters will be back in the lineup in place of Patrick Kaleta. Daniel Paille will also be back in the lineup after sitting out the loss on Saturday. Drew Stafford will be back in the press box after playing against Boston.
Buffalo is coming off of a couple of tough losses but it pales in comparison to the struggles of the Blues. St. Louis is 1-6-1 in their last eight games and they have allowed at least four goals in six of the last eight games. St. Louis has allowed 20 goals in their last four games and are 0-3-1 in those games. They have received good offensive production from several players in the past couple of games but they have allowed plenty of goals because of poor defense and goaltending.
Probably meaningless Fact
The Sabres are 0-8-2 in their last 10 games against the Blues and the last time they beat the Blues was Oct. 1, 1997 when they beat the Blues 3-1 to open the season. Sabres Edge points out that the Blues have never lost in HSBC Arena.
More Meaningless Fact
The Sabres are 43-46-15 against the Blues all-time but 29-18-16 in Buffalo.
Sabres Probable Lines
Vanek-Roy-Kotalik
Hecht-Connolly-Pominville
Paille-MacArthur-Afinogenov
Peters-Gaustad-Mair
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