The Buffalo Sabres went 1-1 last week, beating Ryan Miller and the Vancouver Canucks thanks to some late heroics from Rasmus Ristolainen and Tyler Ennis, while losing (again) to the Tampa Bay Lightning (again) to bring their record to 6-8-0 this season. Coming up this week, another Florida road trip, and surprise, surprise, look who’s on the schedule again…
Tuesday, Nov. 10 – Sabres at Lightning, 7:30pm
Thanks to a quirky beginning of their schedule, the Sabres and Lightning will actually play for the final time this season just barely over a month since we got this whole thing started. The Lightning have dominated the matchup so far, going 3-0 against Buffalo this year, and outscoring the Sabres by a 10-3 margin. Dan Bylsma and company will get their last chance at revenge against the Eastern Conference Champs on national television, as this game will be broadcast on NBCSN.
Thursday, Nov. 12 – Sabres at Panthers, 7:30pm
Their second southern road trip also brings the Sabres’ second game against the Florida Panthers. The cats beat the swords in their previous meeting 3-2, but have stumbled a bit as of late, losing their last two games to fall to 5-6-3 this year. This could be a game determined on the power play, as both the Sabres and Panthers have top-ten power plays but bottom-ten penalty killing units this season.
Saturday, Nov. 14 – Sabres vs. Sharks, 7:00pm
Speaking of struggling teams, the San Jose Sharks will make their yearly appearance in Buffalo having won just 3 of their last ten games after starting out 4-0. Now sitting at 7-7, the Sharks will look to take advantage of a young Sabres team in a battle of experience versus youth. Joe Pavelski leads San Jose with 13 points, while newcomer Joel Ward is off to a hot start with seven goals.
That’s what’s on the table for this week, Sabres fans – give us your thoughts on the games ahead in the comments.