GASabresIUFAN Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 (edited) The Sabres have a very interesting Western road trip coming up. The schedule includes 3 teams in Western playoff spots including the top 2 teams (LV and Ana) in the Pacific division. SJ is in a WC spot and the last team is the LAK who are only a point out of the playoffs and only 7 points out of the top spot in the Pacific. All 4 teams are in desperation mode. The Sabres, with 88 points and an incredible 19-11-3 road record, are 12 to 19 pts ahead of these Western teams. The Sabres are dealing with a few injuries with Kesselring, Samuelsson and Kozak missing time recently. The Sabres also have a 4 pt lead in the Atlantic and now trail Car by only 2 pts for the lead in the East. Our December 6 game Western swing turned out to be the catalyst for the season when they came back against Edm to win 4-3 in OT and the rest is history. Obviously a 4-0 road trip would be great and may go along way to securing the Atlantic, but is 2-1-1 more realistic given how desperate the 4 opponents are. Thoughts? Edited March 15 by GASabresIUFAN 3 1 Quote
Taro T Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 (edited) 13 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said: The Sabres have a very interesting Western road trip coming up. The schedule includes 3 teams in Western playoff spots including the top 2 teams (LV and Ana) in the Pacific division. SJ is in a WC spot and the last team is the LAK who are only a point out of the playoffs and only 7 points out of the top spot in the Pacific. All 4 teams are in desperation mode. The Sabres, with 88 points and an incredible 19-11-3 road record, are 12 to 19 pts ahead of these Western teams. The Sabres are dealing with a few injuries with Kesselring, Samuelsson and Kozak missing time recently. The Sabres also have a 4 pt lead in the Atlantic and now trail Car by only 2 pts for the lead in the East. Our December 6 game Western swing turned out to be the catalyst for the season when they came back against Edm to win 4-3 in OT and the rest is history. Obviously a 4-0 road trip would be great and may go along way to securing the Atlantic, but is 2-1-1 more realistic given how desperate the 4 opponents are. Thoughts? Those teams ARE in playoff spots in the very inferior Pacific. Were they in the East, none would ever be WC3. And even WC4 has a better winning percentage than any of them. If the Sabres continue to play their game, they should take 5 or 6 points on the road trip. Expecting the toughest game to win will be Vegas; the easiest based on past history of the franchises will be SJ; and anything could happen in the other 2 but like the Sabres chances in both of them. Win in Vegas and the Sabres might realistically only need about 3 or 4 more wins to clinch the playoffs by the time they get done with the road trip. And they possibly could even back into the playoffs with just 2 more wins in their last 11. Keep Schenn out of the Vegas and SJ games, maybe let him play against LA or Anaheim; and if he does play please don't play him with Stanley. Just keep it rolling. Edited March 15 by Taro T 2 1 Quote
Trettioåtta Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 I would take 2-1-1. Whilst they are in desperation mode, the flip side to that is that they are also not very good. If the Flyers win their game in hand, they would be tied with ANA for the Division lead. The Flyers are currently 6 points out of the playoffs. The West is in a weird spot this year. Toronto would be in the same playoff push as those teams if they played in the West. Quote
Sabres Fan in NS Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 I think they will lose in regulation against the Kings, but win in regulation the other 3. The Sabres are playing better than all 4, but fatigue will settle in during the Kings game. Well, I am not sure who the 4th game is against ... the fourth game is the one they lose in regulation. 1 Quote
Cheektorado Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 5 points. Anything less will be a disappointment. Anything more is a big win. IMHO. Quote
Trettioåtta Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 2 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said: I think they will lose in regulation against the Kings, but win in regulation the other 3. The Sabres are playing better than all 4, but fatigue will settle in during the Kings game. Well, I am not sure who the 4th game is against ... the fourth game is the one they lose in regulation. Anaheim, second of a back-to-back against a rested Ducks team 1 Quote
TageMVP Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 This is going to be a bad road trip for the Sabres Would not be remotely surprised if they lost all 4. Not joking They're due for the patented Lindy Ruff 5 game losing streak just like during his first tenure Quote
Pimlach Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 Road trips out west can be tough no matter the teams record. I agree with @Taro T, starting with a win in Vahgis could be the key to a successful trip. It feels great to be a real team again. To expect winning hockey. When was the last time someone here cared about the details of the lineup on game days in March? 1 Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted March 15 Author Report Posted March 15 (edited) 1 hour ago, TageMVP said: This is going to be a bad road trip for the Sabres Would not be remotely surprised if they lost all 4. Not joking They're due for the patented Lindy Ruff 5 game losing streak just like during his first tenure @Sabres Fan in NS He has “predicting” wrong for weeks and it’s working for us. Edited March 15 by GASabresIUFAN 3 1 Quote
DarthEbriate Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 Coming out of the break, I figured they needed to be 6-5 in their first eleven games before the schedule "lightened" up to stay in contention. If they had gone 5-5 thus far, they'd still have 80 points and be in the first wild card spot thanks to regulation wins. I was right. What I was wrong about is that I didn't believe that they would already be 9-1 thus far and had already disabused TB of the advantage of their games in hand. So, for the road trip, I'm also thinking 2-1-1. I expect to see much more of Metsa and the Kessel Run. 1 Quote
SABRES 0311 Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 Two of four gets us to 92 points with eleven games remaining. VGK - Reg Loss SJS - Reg Win ANA - Reg Win LAK - OTL 2 Quote
thewookie1 Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 I'd be happy with 2-1-1 as that would put us at 93 pts with 11 games left Just now, SABRES 0311 said: Two of four gets us to 92 points with eleven games remaining. VGK - Reg Loss SJS - Reg Win ANA - Reg Win LAK - OTL That's 2-1-1 lol Quote
SABRES 0311 Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 2 minutes ago, thewookie1 said: I'd be happy with 2-1-1 as that would put us at 93 pts with 11 games left That's 2-1-1 lol Yes….yes it is. Getting just two wins gets you to 92 but my prediction is 2-1-1. Quote
Stads Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 I expect them to play four hockey games West of their home facility. If I'm in the minority on that, I will gladly omit my response 5 Quote
SABRES 0311 Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 2 minutes ago, Stads said: I expect them to play four hockey games West of their home facility. If I'm in the minority on that, I will gladly omit my response 2 Quote
Night Train Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 They played 2 games where the effort was there most of the time with many good scoring chances that just didn't convert. Then a couple Sabre player mistakes made it hard. I'm hoping they relax and just play their game. Rest between games. 1 1 Quote
TageMVP Posted March 15 Report Posted March 15 10 minutes ago, Night Train said: They played 2 games where the effort was there most of the time with many good scoring chances that just didn't convert. Then a couple Sabre player mistakes made it hard. I'm hoping they relax and just play their game. Rest between games. This three days of rest is great timing before a four game road trip Enjoy the days off, recharge the batteries and then have a good trip out west 3 1 Quote
Skibum Posted March 16 Report Posted March 16 4 points - OK 5 points - Good 6 points - Great 7 points - Amazing 8 points - Championship or bust 1 1 Quote
Popular Post pi2000 Posted March 16 Popular Post Report Posted March 16 i'll be at 3 of the 4 games, I'll let everyone know what happens 5 1 4 4 Quote
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