Game #32
Buffalo Sabres (13-15-3) vs.
New Jersey Devils (15-11-4)
Three Questions
1. How will the special teams battle play out?
The Devils have top-ten special teams units on both sides of the coin, but they also take almost twice as many penalty minutes per game as the Sabres do. They may show some frustration tonight if they can’t get an early goal, as they were shut out on Sunday, so the Sabres should be as pesky as they can be tonight.
2. How will the ice time be split up tonight?
Normally this wouldn’t be a big question for a single hockey game, but the fact that the Sabres give tons of ice time to their top players and the fact that this is the second game of a back-to-back means that we might see some adjustments in distribution of ice time tonight. Ryan O’Reilly and Evander Kane are #1 and #3 in the NHL in ice time among forwards, and Rasmus Ristolainen is #6 among defensemen. Will Dan Bylsma give more time to his bottom six tonight, or continue to lean on the horses that he’s ridden all year?
3. Can ROR keep his point streak alive?
Buffalo’s #1 center has a seven eight game point streak going, amassing 10 11 points during that stretch, and he’s now 21st 18th in the NHL with 27 28 points in 30 31 games.
Projected BUF lines
Weber – Franson