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Sabres at Senators preview: Last chance to win before the All-Star break

The Sabres will try to break their three game losing streak and avenge their season-opening loss against the Senators.

Game #50

Buffalo Sabres (19-26-4) at
Ottawa Senators (23-20-6)

Puck Drop: 7:30 pm EST | Canadian Tire Centre | Ottawa, ON
TV: MSG, Bell, RDS2, TSN5 | Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation Senators Blog: Silver Seven

Three Questions

1. Can Girgensons and Eichel do that again?

Two beautiful looking goals (and assists) came from this pairing last night, who seemed to be the only line capable of doing anything against the Rangers. They've had nice chemistry all year, but the Sabres will need more than just two youngsters to bring it tonight if they want to snap this streak.

2. Can the Sabres contain the Senators top players?

Ottawa has six players who've scored more than 30 points this season, including star defenseman Erik Karlsson, Bobby Ryan, and Mike Hoffman, who leads the team with 22 goals. But after those six players, there's a precipitous drop in scoring all the way down to Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who has 16 points. By contrast the Sabres only have five players who've even scored 20 points. If Ristolainen, Larsson and company can keep the Senators top line in check, they should be able to control the rest of their squad.

3. How will we feel heading in to the All-Star Break?

The feeling around the Buffalo Sabres isn't great right now. With 30th place once again in reach during what was supposed to be a big year for improvement and a three game losing streak, the Sabres (and their fans) could really use a solid win to head into the break with some good vibes.

Projected BUF lines*

Kane - R. O'Reilly - McGinn
Foligno - Larsson - Gionta
Moulson - Eichel - Girgensons
Varone - Schaller - Legwand

Bogosian - Ristolainen
McCabe - Franson
Weber - Pysyk

Goal: Robin Lehner
*There was no morning skate today, and Dan Bylsma won't be meeting with the media until 4:30, so we'll just switch the goalies and keep everything else the same for now.

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