Game 2
New York Islanders (0-0-0) vs Buffalo Sabres (0-1-0)
Puck Drop: 7:30 PM EST | UBS Arena Center | Long Island, NY
TV: MSG
Radio: WGR-550
Know Your Opponent
New York Islanders
Record: (0-0-0)
Last Game: N/A
Division Ranking: N/A
PP: N/A
PK: N/A
What to Watch
1. Opening Night Re-Do
The Buffalo Sabres had a big letdown on what was an emotional home opener with the late great Rick Jeanneret honored before puck drop. The home team were strangely ‘off’ all night long, struggling to break out of their defensive zone, or getting bogged down in the neutral zone. Whether it was just home jitters leading to players holding their sticks that much tighter, missing the net and misplacing passes, whatever it is they should be freer on the road.
Young goaltender Devon Levi got the start between the pipes, and bar one or two goals there, did decently enough. It is concerning that defensively Buffalo looked a lot like they did for long stretches last season, failing to clear the area in front of the goalie and routinely shipping goals as a result of that. As many pointed out, the first game of the season looked a lot like the last game of last season, and that is worrying.
2. Isles head to head
Going on the road after a letdown game in your own barn could possibly be exactly what the doctor ordered for these young Sabres. Often last season they looked like they played better when embracing adversity and hostile crowds, and that is what they will face for the Isles season opening game.
The opponent today is a New York team that is not fundamentally different from previous years, and the Sabres have won four of the last five against the Isles so they will come in feeling pretty confident. To become a playoff contender, you have to beat other contenders. Maybe the New York Rangers are Stanley Cup candidates, so we can let that one slide, but the Islanders are certainly a beatable opponent. Which brings me to my last point.
3. The Trap Trailer
A wheelin’ dealin’ team like the Sabres can’t get slowed down in the neutral zone or else they’ll get trapped in the trap. There’s a reason that formation in hockey is called the trap. You get trapped in it if you stop moving. If I say trap two more times that’ll have been have been five times I’ve said trap in this sentence, and also the number of goals the Rags scored against us in our home opener.
Well, tonight we’ll get to see more of the same 1-3-1 formation, just likely a little less talented than Thursday’s opponent. This Islanders team is at an interesting time in their development, having kept their defensive corps and goalies untouched over the summer but adding some weapons and trying some new forward combinations. Will the Sabres have learned from what they did wrong against the Rangers?
For more on the Islanders, check out Belmont Skates.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
JJ Peterka – Dylan Cozens – Victor Olofsson
Jordan Greenway – Casey Mittelstadt- Zach Benson
Zemgus Girgensons – Peyton Krebs – Kyle Okposo
Defense
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju
Erik Johnson – Connor Clifton
Goaltenders: Devon Levi (projected starter), Eric Comrie
New York Islanders
Forwards
Mathew Barzal – Bo Horvat – Simon Holmstrom
Pierre Engvall – Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck
Defense
Adam Pelech – Noah Dobson
Alexander Romanov – Ryan Pulock
Sebastian Aho – Scott Mayfield
Goaltenders: Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov
Editor’s Note: In an attempt to simplify things, I’m trying something new this season at Die By The Blade. Instead of posting a separate game preview and open thread, we’re combining the two. Quite frankly, it makes things easier for us so we don’t have to make two separate posts every game day. Also, we’re not trying to make some silly ‘quota’ of posts each month, so there’s really no reason to separate them. Let me know if that makes sense!