The Buffalo Sabres are five points out of playoff spot with 21 games left to play in the season. They have to leapfrog three teams to get into eighth place with a fourth team factoring somewhat into the mix. Even with a win against the New York Rangers, the Sabres will be no better than four points behind the eighth place team. This game should be the ultimate determination for whether the Sabres will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline on Monday.
The Sabres are coming off a win against the Boston Bruins on Friday night. Derek Roy scored the game winning goal in a shootout while Andrej Sekera scored the lone Sabres goal in regulation. Ryan Miller made 35 saves in the winning effort, so it should be expected that Jhonas Enroth would get the start. Don’t be surprised though if the Sabres ride Miller with three days off before their next game.
The Rangers are coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Friday night. Martin Biron took the loss for the Rangers, so Henrik Lundqvist should get the start for the Rangers. The Islanders were able to get an early lead on the Rangers, with Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau getting a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Rangers were able to recover and score twice in the second period to tie the game up at 3-3. After a scoreless third period, Matt Moulson scored the game winner in the shootout for the Islanders.
The outcome of this game could very well determine whether the Sabres will be buyers or sellers at the deadline. If the Sabres can show that they are still in the hunt, they might be looking to add pieces rather than sell some off for picks. The problem with picking up pieces is that the team will still have to sell something to get themselves under the cap in the proces.s
Game time is 7:00 and can be seen on MSG.