Buffalo Looking to Snag Both Games at Home
Boston Bruins (0-1) at Buffalo Sabres (1-0)
Puck Drop: 7:30 PM | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, New York
TV: ESPN and MSG
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Boston Bruins
Record: 45-27-10 | 100 PTS
Division Ranking: 4th in the Atlantic Division
Last Game: Lost to the Sabres 4-3
PP: 33.3% | Sabres 0%
PK: 100% | Sabres 66.7%
What to Watch
1. Home Cooking
The crowd at Keybank Center was off the charts on Sunday night. They were invested in every hit, every scoring chance, any opportunity to jeer a Bruin. Hell, they even mercilessly booed the refs on icing calls against our hometown heros. The Sabres have not seen fan interaction on that level in years. It goes without saying that Buffalo needs to utilize every advantage they can against the battle tested Bruins. Another rocking, playoff crazy crowd tonight is just what the team needs. It truly did inspire the players in game one, fueling them throughout. Hopefully the goals come quicker this time to help keep the energy up in the building.
2. Power Play Monkey
The Sabres have now gone eight games without making a dent on the power play. They dropped six spots in the PP league rankings in the last seven games of the season and the struggles continued in game one. Something has to give here. As good as Buffalo looks 5 on 5, to keep wasting these chances with the man advantage is eventually going to bite them in the ass. You all know the issues. A recycled combo of overpassing, turning the puck over, not taking enough shots, not enough traffic in front, failure to gain the blue line, and failure to retrieve the puck in deep. They spend most of the time chasing the puck back into their own zone. Over and over and over again. It’s worse than binge watching the only season of television’s worst show ever, Cop Rock.
I don’t have the answers, none of us do. But we all see other teams in these playoffs have no issues gaining entry and setting up and getting good chances. Oh, and scoring a goal occasionally too. At this point, getting back to basics may be the only answer. Keep it simple with everyone playing their role. I would have one of Jason Zucker, Zach Benson or Jordan Greeway in front of the net at all times. Those three are more consistant at setting up the screens and battling to maintain position..
It is long past time to shed that detrimental monkey on Buffalo’s back when they have the man advantage. They are so good at even strength, having just an average power play would put them over the top most nights. As it stands, it’s still an Achilles’ heel.
3. Sammy and Tuch
More of the same from these two, please. Tage Thompson scored the two big goals to even the game up, but Alex Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson were the physical presence Buffalo needed. Sammy dished out 9 big hits, several of the bone crushing variety while Alex had a monster 10 hits in total. This pair were relentless all night, defending and forechecking like mad men. “I thought Samuelsson was an absolute stud in the game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “Running over people, physical.” That he was, while scoring the go-ahead goal that sent Keybank Center into a frenzy.
Tuch was throwing his body around too, with an unrelenting forecheck as well. His hard work directly led to TNT’s 2nd goal while his empty netter turned out to be the game winner (after Boston scored with seconds to go). The Sabres had over 50 hits in total, which will be difficult to replicate. The energy of the fans, the emotion of the moment, it brought out the team toughness and the best of each player. Hopefully, that won’t be a one and done trait for Buffalo in these playoffs. The physicality must remain high, from everyone, as they look to outmatch the big bad Bruins.
I like the Sabres’ “Dial of Destiny” beside Lindy in the picture below. The team has just one goal right now in these playoffs and that is Lord Stanley. And no, I don’t mean knighting the Sabres defenseman. They have their eye on the prize. Only 15 more Buffalo pucks to go!
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards:
Krebs – Thompson – Tuch
Benson – Norris – Doan
Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
Greenway – Dunne – Malenstyn
Defense:
Samuelsson – Dahlin
Byram – Power
Stanley – Timmins
Goalies:
Luukkonen, Lyon
Boston Bruins
Forwards:
Geekie – Lindholm – Pastrnak
Mittelstadt – Zacha – Arvidsson
Hagens – Minten – Khusnutdinov
Jeannot – Kuraly – Kastelic
Defense:
Aspirot – McAvoy
H. Lindholm – Lohrei
Zadorov – Peeke
Goalies:
Swayman, Korpisalo