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VS. The Buffalo Sabres play their 3rd game of this 4 game home stand against the New Jersey Devils coached by Lindy Ruff. The Devils will be without their starting GK Mackenzie Blackwood, Center Nico Hischier and Center Travis Zajac for this weekend's back to back games. Even though they have lost 3 of their last 4 games with Scott Wedgewood as their GK, they did out shoot the Flyers by a 34 to 17 margin and you just know that Coach Ruff would like nothing better than to sweep this series. Will or can the Sabres rebound after their awful last game against the Rangers, will Sam Reinhart play, will the 1st line have a bounce back game and score some goals at 5v5, will the giraffe man TT get back in the starting lineup?? Only HCRK knows for sure. 4th place is in the Sabres sights with a couple of victories so yes the games have meaning even though it's still early in the season. Can the Sabres win and shine a light on this season?? One thing that is special is former Sabres coach Lindy Ruff will be coaching his 1500th game here in Buffalo unfortunately with no fans in the stands. He was drafted with the 32nd pick of the 2nd round by the Sabres in 1979 and was later traded in 1989 for a draft pick which became Richard Smehlik and later became their 15th head coach in 1997 and in the 2005-06 season won the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year. During the season in Feb. 2013 he was relieved of his duties with the Sabres. DEVILS at SABRES This is the first of eight meetings between the Sabres and Devils this season. Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New Jersey 7-1 in Buffalo on Dec. 2, 2019 Next meeting: Saturday, Jan. 31 in Buffalo The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Devils; 4-5-1 at home. This is the 160th game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 78-55-26 series record. The Sabres are 43-27-11 at home against the Devils all-time. THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY The Sabres are 10-7-3 all-time on January 30. January 30, 2007: Daniel Briere scores his second of two hat tricks as a member of the Sabres as the Sabres defeat the Bruins 7-1 in Buffalo. January 30, 2008: Ryan Miller stops all 32 Florida shots and Thomas Vanek scores the lone Buffalo goal as the Sabres defeat the Panthers 1-0 in Florida. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW The Sabres won both meetings with the Devils last season. They scored seven goals in each game, both of which took place in Buffalo. The home team has won the last five meetings between these teams. Since the Devils’ last win at KeyBank Center on Jan. 30, 2018, the Sabres have won three straight games at home against New Jersey, outscoring them 19-4 in those contests. A victory today would give the Sabres wins in three consecutive matchups with the Devils for the first time since Oct. 23, 2010 to March 26, 2011. Entering play Friday, only Edmonton’s Ethan Bear and Darnell Nurse (8 GF) have been on the ice for more 5-on-5 goals as a pair than Jake McCabe and Rasmus Ristolainen’s seven goals. I bolded that especially for @Brawndo Both these games against the Devils will be played at 1pm so get ready for not only 2 matinee games but afternoon delights!!! LETS GO BUFFALO Some information was gathered from the website https://sabresdigitalpressbox.com for those who may want to read more from this site.

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My thoughts on the game: If this is the Ullmark we're going to get this year, we have a #1 GK, no doubt he gets that point for us Worst game I've seen Jack play in quite awhile, having said that when a player of his ilk has that bad a game they respond next game I've said this before but competing is not this team's #1 issue, cohesion is, way too many turnovers and bad passes Teams sure are taking some liberties with some dirty hits on this team, do we need an enforcer to clean things up?? There were 3 times in this game I thought holy crappola Dahlin looks really fast, I don't think I've ever thought that before, keep it up young man Hall is playing ok but he's not dominating play like I thought he would. Okposo isn't playing necessarily bad but he could use a breather, expect a young guy to take his place this weekend Olofsson's all around game is better this year, he looks faster and is seeing the ice better HCRK you've had 8 games so far, figure out your lines and stick with it so this team can find some chemistry Irwin has played better than I would have expected when we signed him, nice pickup for the backend, same for Sheahan

He’s deserved it, great start for the rookie

VS The Buffalo Sabres will play the NY Rangers again and try to move up the standings in the Eastern Division with another victory tonight. Can they pull out another win to extend their 2 game winning streak. Points, points and more points are necessary as the division starts off as difficult as the preseason prognosticators predicted this season would be. It seems to me that unlike other years where you would have a big game occasionally that this year playing only divisional foes that every game is a big game no matter who you're playing because it's a 4 point swing game. Does HCRK keep the same lineup tonight and does he wait until the back to back games this weekend to make any changes to the lineup?? We'll see, can the power play teams, Jack scoring a goal, Cozens continue his fine play, penalty kill keep improving, Risto & McCabe continue their defensive prowess, will the Sabres continue with their little victories?? THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW Tuesday’s win improved the Sabres’ home record against New York to 50-29-15 all-time. The Rangers became the fifth opponent that the Sabres have earned at least 50 home wins against. With a victory tonight, the Sabres would have wins in three consecutive matchups with the Rangers for the first time since April 2, 2016 to Jan. 3, 2017. They would also have wins in consecutive home games against the Rangers for the first time since Jan. 9 and Feb. 21, 2009. Kyle Okposo has scored at a point-per-game pace in his last 15 games against the Rangers (3+12) dating back to Dec. 2, 2015. Eric Staal has totaled 12 points (5+7) in his nine games against the Rangers since the beginning of the 2016-17 season. Carter Hutton is 5-2-0 in his career against New York with a .932 save percentage and a 2.16 goals-against average. Another win against the Rangers would tie his six wins against the San Jose Sharks as his highest win total against any team. TRUST THE PROCESS According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres rank near the top of the league at 5-on-5 in several underlying statistical categories that are typically predictive of success: Corsi percentage: 53.4% (8th) High-danger chance percentage: 64.3% (3rd) Expected goals percentage: 57.4% (4th) Through their first seven games, the Sabres have led their opponents at 5-on-5 in each of these categories in every game except when they were out-attempted 51-49 by the Flyers in Buffalo’s 6-1 win on Jan. 18. POWER UP Buffalo enters play Wednesday with the eighth-ranked power play in the league. The team has scored on eight of its 26 power play opportunities this season for a 30.8 percent conversion rate. By going 3-for-5 on the power play on Sunday at Washington and 2-for-4 on Tuesday vs. NY Rangers, the Sabres scored five power-play goals in a two-game span for the first time since Oct. 5 and 7, 2019. Entering play Wednesday, the Sabres have had a league-high seven different players score at least one goal on the power play, led by Victor Olofsson’s two power-play tallies. Jack Eichel enters play Wednesday tied for second in the league with a team-leading five power-play points (1+4). The Sabres have 10 players with at least one power-play point this season, tying for second-most in the league before Wednesday’s games. For some of those Sabrespacers like our Peach State member who continue to not trust this Sabres team and seem to have been jaded and hurt and their posts just seem so angry especially lately we really do hope this year continues to move forward in a positive direction and that you can eventually say "I'm not angry anymore". LETS GO BUFFALO

Not sure if anyone else caught the St. Louis- Las Vegas game tonight but that had to be one of the most exciting 5 minute OT I can remember. Just an awesome back and forth after LV scored the tying goal at the end of regulation. Just a great game. Lehner is still bad at shoot outs or at least in this one.

No he’s not, if anybody makes any kind of mistake and it’s up to Dahlin to save them, count it as a goal for the opposition

You’ll notice anybody playing with the worst defensive defensemen in team history (RDahlin) seems to play bad then they get moved and they look great

@Doohickie Hope this answers your question.

Big win for the team even if I did get fired.

Maybe I missed something here but if Dahlin covers his man in front of the net they never get the deflection for the score. His defensive play is still for crap. So he looks pretty skating with the puck, your primary job is to play DEFENSE if you're in the back end. Send the dude to Rochester so he can learn how to play DEFENSE.

Well these next 4 games will be an opportunity to turn some national heads around because the vast amount of talk concerning us is we'll end up last in the division including The Athletic which basically gives us a zero chance to make the playoffs. I'm of the opinion we'll end up 6th at worst but I've been wrong before

VS The Buffalo Sabres after a 4 game road trip come back home to face the young NY Rangers. The Rangers are led so far by Artemi Panarin and are 1-3-1 after coughing up 3rd period leads with shaky goal keeping from their young GKs. Sound familiar?? It will be interesting how HCRK sets up his forward lines, who plays, who sits and besides the Risto-McCabe duo who plays together on the backend. Both teams are looking to fatten up their point totals against each other so we'll see who moves up the standings. It will also be our first chance to see Alexis Lafreniere the first pick in the last draft. Right now the Bruins and the Caps look like the best teams in the division and it'll be refreshing playing someone other than the Caps and Flyers to see where this team is at. Normally playing at home would be a big advantage but with no fans in the stands, I wonder if there is an advantage playing anywhere in particular. Hopefully the Sabres can continue their winning ways at home established last year although that crash landed in their first 2 games but will they pick up the Bills mojo or do they lay an egg?. Does Dahlin continue his good play from last game, does Jack, Skinner and Hall score some goals or does their drought continue?? For those crying about the Sabres play this year, dry your eyes because I think this team will continue to improve. RANGERS at SABRES This is the first of eight meetings between the Sabres and Rangers this season. Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New York 3-2 in New York on Feb. 7, 2020. Next meeting: Thursday, Jan. 28 in Buffalo The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Rangers; 2-6-2 at home. This is the 186th game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has an 83-67-35 series record. The Sabres are 49-29-15 at home against the Rangers all-time. THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY The Sabres are 7-10-1 all-time on January 26. January 26, 1983: The Sabres get a goal from seven different players in a 7-3 win at home against the Montreal Canadiens. January 26, 2006: Seven different Sabres score, led by Thomas Vanek’s two-goal night, in Buffalo’s 8-4 win at Toronto. January 26, 2016: Jack Eichel scores twice and Robin Lehner records 34 saves and his second career assist in his return to Ottawa as the Sabres top the Senators 3-2. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW With a victory tonight, the Sabres would have wins in consecutive matchups with the Rangers for the first time since they won three in a row from April 2, 2016 to Jan. 3, 2017. Rasmus Ristolainen is expected to play in his 500th NHL game tonight. He will become the 31st player to appear in 500 games for the Sabres and the first to do so since Drew Stafford played his 500th game with the team on March 11, 2014 vs. Nashville. Kyle Okposo has scored at a point-per-game pace in his last 21 games against the Rangers (5+16) dating back to Dec. 20, 2013. Eric Staal has totaled 11 points (5+6) in his eight games against the Rangers since the beginning of the 2016-17 season. Taylor Hall has recorded 12 points (6+6) in 12 games against the Rangers dating back to the beginning of the 2015-16 season, including two four-point games during that span. Colin Miller has five assists in his last six games against the Rangers. TRUST THE PROCESS According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres rank near the top of the league at 5-on-5 in several underlying statistical categories that are typically predictive of success: Corsi percentage: 53.7% (6th) High-danger chance percentage: 64.2% (3rd) Expected goals percentage: 57.7% (2nd) Through their first six games, the Sabres have led their opponents at 5-on-5 in each of these categories in every game except when they were out-attempted 51-49 by the Flyers in Buffalo’s 6-1 win on Jan. 18. OUT OF THE BOX Entering play Monday, the Sabres have been the least-penalized team in the NHL at 4:10 penalty minutes per game. The Sabres (plus-13) and the Rangers (plus-9) have the top two penalty differentials in the league entering Monday’s games. So it will be interesting how the special teams do with each team obviously not committing many penalties and any power play goals being a big factor in the game. LETS GO BUFFALO

Dude are you feeling neglected? 😀 You may be right or wrong but I agree with you in that at this stage of his career a backup GK for 7M on this squad seems way too much to pay for. They need an upgrade though so depending on who is available I'd rather go for a younger guy that doesn't restrict your cap.

Thoughts on the game and team in general: They just played 4 away games against the Flyers and Capitals and took 5 out of 8 points from it, who wouldn't have taken that at almost any part of last year I thought we played pretty well so far this year discounting the 1st game with the caveat that except for the short period of time Jack-Sam and Victor were together yesterday none of these forward lines are the same as last year. You can tell that the other teams were a more cohesive unit mainly because the Sabres as a team haven't been together much more than 3 weeks yet. They're still in training camp mode in a regular year after not playing in 10 months You can complain about their cohesiveness but you can't complain about their competitiveness Jack and Hall are in a different stratosphere as far as being dynamic players. At times they are just flying around the ice. Having said that they are pretty much the same player and I wonder if splitting them up so they can control play on 2 different lines may or may not be best for the team other than the PP I think Reinhart is under rated on this board and nationally, he's tougher on the boards, is responsible defensively, scores and you basically never see this guy make a major mistake that kills the team. For the Risto haters, he leads the team in TOI, Hits by over double than the next highest guy, Blocked shots, has the best +/- on the team and is 5th in scoring. Oh yeah lets trade this guy because he stinks, I'm looking at you @Brawndo, I'm looking at you 😀 Stall is not the dynamic 2C you think of but I think he and Okposo are great mentors for the younger guys in particular in subtle ways of playing the game, positionally, controlling the puck in the corners, etc..... And if the young guys are watching they'll learn a lot The defense is playing at a higher level overall and if Dahlin is their biggest problem they'll only get better. He looked more confident yesterday Great win for Ullmark, that has to help him mentally although that 3rd goal, yikes. Can he or this team have worst puck luck than they already have had

KC was the better team, no shame in that Good experience for team and now they know what it takes to get there By the way when did Conrad Dobler get back on the team?? Mahomes was at Texas Tech when my son went there, no way l cheer for Brady.

It helps that Mahomes will end up being the greatest QB ever The guy is unbelievable

You ask, Brawndo delivers, he's freaking awesome He deserves his atta boy points as opposed to @Thorny, how does that guy get any 😀😀😀

VS Game #2 at Washington this afternoon after a very disappointing loss on Friday night. Is this a must win, it is if they have any pride whatsoever losing to a very shorthanded Capitals team. Is there any hope, of course, Dahlin can't play any worse in the Dzone, Eichel and Skinner won't have a 00.00% shooting percentage for the year and St. Louis won the Cup after a horrendous start and the Dallas Stars did go to the Finals last year after a horrendous start last year. So yes there's hope but after the past few years of no playoffs, there really isn't much left especially if they can't muster up a win tonight. Oh whoa is me, when will the heartache end for this team?? To leave on a positive note, has Risto played any better than he has so far this season, we just have to win this afternoon. Am I the only one also who thought what was RK thinking when he put Cozens in the 3rd spot in the shootout, was that just a bit too much pressure on a kid in a what for me was a must win situation?? THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY The Sabres are 11-8-0 all-time on January 24. January 24, 1978: The Sabres host the NHL All-Star game at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Sabres forward Rick Martin scores to tie the game late in the third period and Gilbert Perreault scores the game-winning goal in overtime. January 24, 1981: Twelve Sabres get on the scoresheet, led by Danny Gare’s two-goal night, as the Sabres defeat the Capitals 7-4 in Washington. January 24, 2017: Jack Eichel beats Juuse Saros in overtime to earn a 5-4 win at Nashville, giving the Sabres three straight overtime wins. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW Today’s game will be broadcast on ESPN 1520 in Buffalo due to Buffalo Bills coverage on WGR 550. If he plays, today will be Linus Ullmark’s 100th NHL game. He would become the 15th goaltender to appear in at least 100 regular-season games for the Sabres. With a win, he would tie Robin Lehner for the 12th-most wins in franchise history (42). Eric Staal, Dylan Cozens and Riley Sheahan all scored their first goals as Sabres on Friday at Washington. They were the second trio of Sabres ever to score their first goals for the team in the same game, joining Dave Andreychuk, Paul Cyr and Hannu Virta (Oct. 6, 1982 vs. Quebec). ONE BUFFALO The Sabres and the Buffalo Bills are playing on the same day for the only time this season after doing so six times last season. The Sabres were 4-2-0 in those six games. The teams have previously played on the same date 244 times, with both teams winning their respective games on 61 of those days. The Sabres are 131-77-36 all-time when playing on a Bills game day. Of the 244 days on which both teams have played, 20 have been Bills playoff game days, including the AFC Championship games in 1992 and 1993. The Sabres are 11-8-1 on Bills playoff game days. The last time the Sabres and Bills both won on the same date was Nov. 24, 2019. LETS GO Buffalo Sabres & BILLS

VS The Buffalo Sabres with a golden opportunity to get back into the MassMutual East Division race against the Covid infected Washington Capitals. With Ovie, Kuznetsov, Orlov and Samsonov all out for at least 4 games it is a must to take advantage of this and have this be a must win. We can only hope the grieving Linus U. can find his way back into the lineup and save this franchise from losing all hope this early in the year. The Sabres all in all have not played bad hockey in their last 3 games but have to find a way to consistently score some goals and in some minds get better GK-ing. If Ullmark does not play again who would have ever thought we'd have any chance with JJ. The thought of that just ain't that pretty at all. With Asplund back on the taxi squad that must mean that Tage (the giraffe man) Thompson is back in the lineup tonight but it would be a big assist with improved play from Stall, Olofsson and Skinner finding his scoring touch again. What line does TT play on, which line does Cozens play on, apparently only HCRK knows for sure. Can the Sabres find a way to beat Vanecek this time, we'll find out tonight Sabres fans. If Ullmark doesn't play again tonight does trading/finding another GK to fill in now just becomes an act to divert catastrophe?? With the Capitals losing 2 games to the Penguins do they come out desperate even though shorthanded. Craig Anderson was called up from their taxi squad to take the place of Samsonov. Are the Sabres a snake bitten organization that not only can't seem to find some luck but are doomed to failure even with a better lineup. Tonights game should be the start of finding hope or throwing another season away. I don't think they can overcome a 1-4 start in this division to not only satisfy the fan base but also their star players. THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY The Sabres are 10-6-1 all-time on January 22. January 22, 1988: Phil Housley records his second career hat trick in a 7-3 win over New Jersey. Housley still holds the Sabres’ franchise record for most career hat tricks by defenseman (2). January 22, 1989: Lindy Ruff scores his 100th NHL goal in a 6-4 win at home against the Bruins. DOMINANT DEFENSE Entering play Thursday, four Sabres defensemen rank in the league’s top 40 in shot attempts percentage (min. 30 minutes played): Jake McCabe(15th, 58.1%), Rasmus Ristolainen (24th, 56.7%), Brandon Montour(35th, 55.0%) and Rasmus Dahlin (40th, 54.0%). According to NaturalStatTrick.com, McCabe and Ristolainen rank 10th among NHL pairs who have played at least 30 minutes together this season. They have a SAT% of 58.0 percent when skating together at even strength despite an offensive zone start rate of just 44.7 percent. Is Ristolainen taking fewer minutes the key to his much better play or has HCRK worked his magic in revitalizing his career?? He doesn't have any competition on the team for most physical player this year and he's done it smartly for a change. UPDATE: Apparently Ullmark and Okposo practiced with the team so the possibility presents itself that we'll have another new lineup tonight. NHL NEWS: Is a PLD trade in Columbus now just waiting for the shoe to drop and do the Sabres have any interest in him, are they willing to trade Cozens to make it happen, is Montreal for real and can Toffoli keep this hot streak going?? What is going on in Colorado losing to the LA Kings last night. Is the North (Canada) Division the most fun to watch right now?? Will Dallas ever play a game again and when they do what a packed schedule they're going to inherit. Is Vegas and Tampa Bay the class of the league this year?? CAN THE SABRES BE THIS DESPARATE FOR A GK?? LETS GO BUFFALO!!

Thanks for the interpretation, I didn't have a clue what I was looking at.

Wasn't Kyle O supposed to be back playing against the Caps this week? Has there been any update on him? Placing him on IR was that a move to get Rasmus A on the ice or are we doing Sabres day to day as out for 2 months again? INTK

Not that I completely disagree with you but we just gave up 5 goals (discounting the ENG) in the last 3 games against Washington and the Flyers. We lost 2 of them because we couldn't score. I wouldn't be so hard on Adams for this just yet but with Linus U. situation in the air, we do need to go get someone if there's a chance to.

LETS GO BUFFALO