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Vancouver Canucks vs. Buffalo Sabres Preview: Can Sabres win two in a row?

After finding their first win of the season against the Islanders on Tuesday, the Sabres will be looking to extend that to their first winning streak tonight versus Vancouver.

The Buffalo Sabres finally found their first victory on Tuesday, beating the Islanders in a 4-3 shootout after seven games out of the win column. It ended a long stretch of futility to begin the season, and the Sabres are hoping that the victory can spark a run that pulls them closer toward the range of respectability.

Buffalo had yesterday off, so we didn't get much news on any lineup changes, but hey, why mess with success, right?

Game #8

Vancouver Canucks (4-3-0) vs. Buffalo Sabres (1-6-1)

Puck Drop - 7:00pm EST - First Niagara Center - Buffalo, NY
TV - MSG | Radio - WGR 550-AM
SBNation Canucks Blog - Nucks Misconduct (Please play nice if you're going to visit.)

Three Things To Watch For

1. Will the team's first win and some new found chemistry spark anything more?

While it was fun to see a real life victory for once, the Sabres needed overtime and a shootout to actually get it. Now that they've got that monkey off their backs, can the Sabres turn one win into a streak?

2. Will Ron Rolston continue to juggle the healthy scratches, seemingly at random?

The Sabres have seen a different crop of forwards and defensemen play in just about every single game in their search for chemistry. Mikhail Grigorenko and John Scott have been the world's oddest platoon at forward, and the defensemen have been rotating in and out on an every game basis. Zemgus Girgensons' injury might keep him out of the lineup, which would mean that we'd probably see the same forward lines as Tuesday, and the defense actually played well, so we'll see how Rolston decides to approach this one.

3. Can Buffalo's top two lines continue to be productive?

The Sabres have found some offensive chemistry the past few games, thanks to their top two lines of Vanek-Hodgson-Ott and Foligno-Ennis-Stafford. They'll need some firepower to go toe-to-toe with Vancouver, whose new coach John Tortorella has split up the Sedins from time to time to try and spread out the offense.

Projected BUF Lines

Vanek - Hodgson - Ott
Stafford - Ennis - Foligno
Porter - Grigorenko - Flynn
McCormick - Larsson - Scott

Ehrhoff - Pysyk
Tallinder - Myers
Weber- Ristolainen

Goal: Ryan Miller

Scratches/Injuries: Girgensons, Kaleta, Leino, McBain

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