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Your Buffalo Sabres will attempt to have their 2nd 2 game winning streak by playing the Hurricanes tonight. A solid outing by the Sabres led by Kane and Eichel, who were both flying around the ice yesterday. Move Kane off one line and suddenly his new line becomes the 5v5 scoring line for the team. Scandella and Risto both played over 29 and 28 minutes respectively yesterday so it will be interesting how Housley splits the D minutes tonight. Does Erod return to the lineup, does Gorges remain in the lineup??? Carolina is 3-1-1 in their last 5 games with an impressive win over the Predators in their last game and a just as impressive 8-1 loss to the Leafs. Which team shows up today?? LETS GO BUFFALO GAME PREVIEW NESN.COM RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have had extreme results throughout the season but perhaps nothing quite like this week. And there is no telling if Saturday night's home game against the Buffalo Sabres at PNC Arena will bring any sense of normalcy for the Hurricanes. There was Tuesday's 8-1 loss at Toronto followed by Thursday night's 4-1 victory at Nashville. So just keeping it together might look like a challenge at times for the Hurricanes (15-12-7). "You've got to have the 'pack of wolves' mentality, right?" Carolina coach Bill Peters said. It is a pattern that at times might not make sense, but at least the Hurricanes know that their fortunes can change quickly in either direction. "I think we've done that a few times," forward Derek Ryan said. "We've had some poor performances and then bounce back the next game. That builds character and some resiliency. I'm proud of the boys for doing that." It also creates some uncertainty about how the team might perform. Buffalo (9-19-7) has had fewer encouraging moments, though a 4-2 victory Friday night at home against the Philadelphia Flyers provided some positive vibes. The Sabres, who hold the second-worst record in the NHL, are 1-2-1 in their last four games. The lone point in that stretch before Friday came in an overtime loss Dec. 15 at home to Carolina. "Obviously trying to find the right formula," Buffalo coach Phil Housley said. "We're just trying to play a simple game." Housley said good things need to happen for the Sabres, whose confidence has been stunted at times. "The biggest thing for us is to get a good start," Housley said. "Try to back the other team off. ... Don't allow their fans and their energy to get any momentum. We've got to shoot pucks. We have to keep hammering that message." The Hurricanes should know the value of a good start because they're 13-3-2 when scoring first. Veteran Cam Ward has been the most consistent goalie for Carolina this month and he could be in line to start for the second game in a row after a strong performance in Thursday night's victory at Nashville. "When you get the opportunity to get in, you want to make the most of it and just try to do my job," Ward said. "Winning is fun. We're looking to end on a good note against Buffalo before the (holiday) break." The Hurricanes are 4-1-0 in their last five games, but they have been outscored 16-15 during that span because of the misery in Toronto. "Obviously things didn't go well in Toronto and we were embarrassed because of it," Ward said. The Sabres are playing on back-to-back nights, so that could put the lineup in flux. "It's some difficult decisions, but it also breeds some good internal competition and they all have to be sharp," Housley said. This is only the second home game in a three-week period for the Hurricanes, who are beginning a three-game homestand. For Buffalo, this game begins a three-game road stretch. VS

I'll give you this..... ROR was better 2 years ago Last year was a toss up, I thought both of them had their moments but Kane finished the year better This year, I don't think it's even close

Congrats!!! My youngest graduated in May. I remember the visits and tours with him. I'm assuming that's your oldest. It won't get any less complicated for the others Completed my last day of being On Call for work. Halleluja

Phil Esposito was the better player too but that doesn't help us now. Neither is ROR ?????? Must be a generational thingy

TrueBlueGED POST Thorny's reading comprehension: 2 Bozo trying to catch me in a gatcha's reading comprehension: 0 I don't mind friendly banter but the Bozo remark I think borders on crossing the line. The problem is I'm not sure if you were having fun or not. Yes there's a snippet in there about Kane having a better year but your posts seem to lean heavily to the belief that ROR is the better player. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays whatever floats your boat.

I hope they/the league succeeds but no-one has found the magic formula to make women's sports popular or to receive ratings on TV. If they do tank, I hope it's in tops only!!!

Paul McCartney - John Wayne - Clint Eastwood - Tom Hanks

Dang and I usually end up 2nd in these. Nobody was in when I started so I'm obviously bored at work and needed to get busy

Surging Flyers visit slumping Sabres ESPN Preview http://www.espn.com/nhl/preview?gameId=400962142 BUFFALO, N.Y. -- After sinking in November, the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres have headed in different directions. The two teams will meet on Friday in Buffalo before each travels on Saturday for one final game before the Christmas break. The Flyers (15-12-7) won just two games in November (2-5-6) but have been much improved of late. Philadelphia has just two losses in December (7-2) and is back in the playoff hunt. Heading into Thursday night's action, the Flyers were two points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres (8-19-7), meanwhile, have continued to sink. Buffalo lost 10 of 13 games in November (3-8-2) and have remained on the losing side as of late. Even with a stretch of points in four straight games, the Sabres have a December record of 2-4-3. Helping to lead the way for Philadelphia is captain Claude Giroux. The 29-year-old has bounced back from a down 2016-17 season and is second on the team in scoring with 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) in 34 games. Last year, he had 58 points (14 goals, 44 assists) in 82 games. Giroux recently said that he felt the criticism from outside sources but that it only served as motivation to turn things around. "It got a little personal, yeah," Giroux said. "I try not to read too many things but obviously there wasn't a lot of positive articles out there this summer but you kind of take that as a motivation and you want to push yourself to be the best player you can be." Giroux is now playing on the wing instead of center, which seems to have helped his game. Philadelphia has received consistent contributions in net this year from both Brian Elliott and former Sabre Michal Neuvirth. Elliott has a save percentage of .912 in 27 games while Neuvirth's is .915 in eight games. With this being the first game in a back-to-back for Philadelphia, it would not be a surprise if Neuvirth gets the start against Buffalo -- most teams have been playing their backup goaltender against the struggling Sabres in recent weeks. Buffalo is coming off yet another disappointing defeat. On Tuesday, the Sabres lost 3-0 to Boston. It was a lackluster effort from the Sabres, who were down 1-0 for much of the game before surrendering two empty-net goals late. Sabres head coach Phil Housley has been frustrated by Buffalo's self-inflicted wounds, which have surfaced yet again following a stretch of decent performances. "The disappointing thing for me right now is every time we sort of trend in a right direction ... we get away from the things we did well," Housley said. "In the first period (against Boston), you saw the execution was there, the decisions were there, the simple game was there. OK, we didn't score, but it's not a time now going into the second period where you change. You've got to stick to the game plan and eventually you'll break through. It just seems that sometimes we're taking things into our own hands and it just keeps coming back at us." Evander Kane leads the Sabres in scoring with 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) in 34 games. Robin Lehner has a save percentage of .914 in 26 games. From the Philadelphia Inquirer Breakaways — Injured backup goalie Michal Neuvirth will make the trip to Buffalo and Columbus but probably isn’t ready to play, Hextall said. Hakstol wouldn’t say whether Alex Lyon will make his NHL debut in one of the back-to-back games but said he believed in the rookie. “His best practices have been over the last three or four days,” Hakstol said. “He’s a guy we have good confidence in.” — Ivan Provorov, hit on the left hand and wrist while blocking Tomas Tatar’s shot on Wednesday, and Taylor Leier (upper-body injury) participated in practice. — Couturier is on a 39-goal pace. — Defenseman Brandon Manning, trying to work his way back from a hand injury, skated before practice. He has missed the last seven games — Giroux has 11 points, including nine assists, in his last eight games — Hextall praised the play of Phantoms left winger Oskar Lindblom, saying he’s “on an upper trend” after a slow start. Nolan Patrick has had a bumpy rookie season, as he tries to make the gargantuan jump from juniors to the NHL. His summer workouts were slowed because of abdominal surgery, then a concussion forced him to miss nine games during the season. But the 19-year-old center has shown some positive signs in the last few games. He put together one of his best performances of the season on Wednesday, as the Flyers outlasted Detroit, 4-3, to capture their seventh win in the last eight games. “I’m getting some confidence, and my body’s been cooperating,” Patrick said after an optional practice Thursday in Voorhees. “Just having fun out there and trying to enjoy it.” “Patty has been building the last few games,” said Hakstol, whose team will play in Buffalo on Friday. “I thought throughout the game he was a solid, effective player. … It’s a process for him, and you’re seeing consistency from him the last three or four games.” Playing for Brandon in the Western Hockey League, Patrick had 148 points over his last 105 games, including 61 goals. He has just two goals and seven points in his first 25 games with the Flyers. He said he’s been concentrating on his defense. “It’s a hard league for every young player. I don’t care how mature you are, how good a player you are,” Hakstol said. “It’s a hard league to make an adjustment to, and I like the signs I’m seeing right now out of Patty’s game.” General manager Ron Hextall also likes what Patrick has shown lately. LETS GO BUFFALO VS.

Except his point yesterday was ROR was a much better player than Kane. That was my point. If you're not going to keep up with all the different conversations on this board Mr. Borg, stay out of my counterpoints!! :P :P :P

Wait..... What?? You mean that better than Kane player ROR playing with Tavares' old right hand man Okposo can't put up a 2nd scoring line?? Who next are you going to blame for ROR's drop off??

And anything that shows something good for Bogosian has to be flawed? Right, amirite.

Where I disagree...... please explain to me why you would not want someone to pass to the guy who has scored over 40 goals in the past calendar year. Especially on a team that is last in the league in scoring??? Also do you know who is the co-leader on the team in Assists and had double the amount of anyone else on the PowerPlay????? Yes that no passing, only shoots Evander Kane. Yes lets break up the no chemistry Kane-Eichel line who have more points that the next 4 guys combined, so what do we achieve?? An artificial point production from others who haven't done squat?? In the immortal words of Senator Clay Davis..... SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIT

Actually the remark was intended to be a very tongue in cheek remark in response to a couple of other posters completely opposite take. As for the bolded.................... Nobody accused us of being stupid :P :P :P

:w00t: :w00t: :w00t: Yes that was intended to be the 30 year ago meaning of the word if not 40. Nice catch!!!

I could be wrong but weren't you one of the advocates for that very same experiment??? :w00t: :w00t: :w00t:

Probably comes down to were they raised to be hard working, don't take anything for granted like their baby boomer parents/grandparents or were they raised like a typical millenial who expects everything on a platter and is not willing to work for any of it. I'm entitled, gimme gimme gimme, where's my phone, I can't live without it generation.

I'd like to get Housley's real thoughts on why he's doing this. Bylsma used to get creamed for moving his 3rd man on his 2 man lines. The only common denominator to Phil's lines is he completely blows them up than puts them back together again. Personally I didn't think Sam played bad his past 2 games but his TOI was very low, now he gets rewarded, for what, in getting put on the 1st line from the 4th. It's almost like he's just rolling the dice to see what falls out.

Georgia's and Thorny's dream, how about the godzilla in the room, bunker boy himself tbGED???

This crowd, by the way I like ROR but he appears to have lost a step or is in desperate need of new surroundings. Either way his better days in a Sabres uniform is past.

I think ERod is just the new toy in the playroom that adds speed and quickness to the lineup. So he appears shiny, he gets bumped off the puck to easy but he does give the appearance of giving max effort which Sam rarely does.

So you decided to join the crowd huh???

When we tanked, we not only rid ourselves of our experienced talent pool who could mentor, we rid ourselves of several draft picks trying to speed up the process. Boston has Chara, Bergeron and Marchand to get in a kids face and tell them what and how to do it, plus still have the ability to do it themselves. Who do the Sabres have to do that same mentoring on this team?? So our young guys are supposed to be leaders?? Can you imagine Samson standing up to Marchand when he tells him to get his MFn butt in gear and start playing. No I didn't think so. On top of that we are basically getting nothing from our bottom 2 lines and kids that should have started and learned in Rochester were pushed thru before they were fully ready for the NHL. Hopefully Botts has a long term plan that adds to the mix, Bylsma tried to hide the weaknesses of this team and it didn't get him anywhere. If anything he at least got some production out of Reinhart. Housley appears to say that we're going to play my style no matter if we have the horses to do it or not. So we may have to wait until our ponies turn into horses and then training the new ponies. We are losing but the effort is improving and the style of play is WAY more entertaining than the past 2 years, lets see.

I agree with most of these items, Samson has earned alot of the scorn he's receiving but I thought he played a responsible game the past 2 games. I'm hoping he's turning a corner here but he doesn't appear to have another gear to step up to, you never see this guy take over a game even for a single shift. Wasn't the 2014 draft the one where Boston was blasted for missing on their 1st round draft choices?? Maybe I'm wrong Other notes The defense is playing much better, Antipin and Balou played ok and add speed to the mix Bogosian has played well since he's come back. Yes he's making a lot of money but he's far from the biggest problem we have Pouliot had some glorious opportunities but didn't cash in. When we're praising the effort of waiver wire pickups it goes to show what little depth we have on this team and why the tank had more ramifications than just picking up Jack and Samson We are also a bad passing team, how many opportunities are lost a game when the pass is behind, in the skates or just plain miss the intended player. Must be 10 a game. For a 1-0 game, I thought it was pretty entertaining especially for a Sabre game. Boston is playing really well lately, that actually was a pretty good showing for a last place team. This is such a HAPPY place when we lose.

Yes but Lehner went down to early