Sabres at Panthers Preview: Buffalo Goes for Three in a Row
The Sabres can get to .500 for the first time in a long time with a win tonight against the Panthers.
Game #16
Buffalo Sabres (7-8-0) at
Florida Panthers (6-6-3)
Three Questions
1. Can the Sabres reach the .500 mark?
It has been awhile since Buffalo has been a .500 team (930 days and counting or over two and a half years, to be exact). The last time the Sabres were .500 or better was on the final day of the 2012-13 season when they beat the New York Islanders, 2-1 in a shootout, to finish with a 21-21-6 record. They have a chance to do that, and secure their first three-game win streak since last December, with a win over the Panthers tonight.
2. Will Buffalo slow down Jaromir Jagr?
As he has been known to do throughout his career against the Sabres, the 43-year-old ageless wonder piled on the points the first time these two teams met. Jagr was involved in all three Panthers' goals, scoring twice in the first period and providing the primary assist on the eventual game-winner in the third. Jagr leads Florida with seven goals and 12 points this season and scored the game-winning goal in its 4-3 win over Calgary on Tuesday.
3. For that matter, can Florida slow down Jack Eichel?
Buffalo's superstar rookie has been on fire as of late, with back-to-back multi-point efforts. He has points in three straight and four of his last five games, totaling three goals and six points in that span. He scored his first road goal in the Sabres' last outing versus Tampa Bay and after tallying zero assists in his first 13 career games, Eichel has three in his past two. To put it another way...
UH OH, HAPPY LEARNED HOW TO PUTT.
— sba (@essbeeay) November 11, 2015 It's probably not a coincidence that as Eichel has gotten hot, a big stretch of wins has followed.