Sabres Sens preview

I hate the Senators. I really do, its like a team was made up a bunch of douchebags, then traded for a murderer. They are the ones that ruined Tim Connolly. They ended the President cup year. They have one line, yet can beat us. ONE LINE! This year, they are off to a terrible start, shockingly because of bad goaltending. Isn't that why Ray Emery is in Russia? But doesn't it always seem when Ottawa needs to hit the panic button, the Sabres are on the Schedule? Who are now without Tallinder probably? Which makes me want to check the Portland Roster and see who is doing what, because we hear nothing.

Where I see this



One, the special Pink jerseys are sharp, but talk about the Sabres putting a stamp on this team. But the leading scorer on the Pirates is Mancari with 10 points in 5 games, followed by Gerbe and Kennedy. Good news all around. Except Enroth is struggling.

Anyway, back to tonights game. The sens are coming off 4 straight losses. Are dead last in the Northeast and people are panicking. For Sabre fans it all sounds great doesn't it? Well the leading scorer is Filip Kuba with 11 assists. One, thats not good, and second, I didn't know he was on the Senators. Really they are still a one line. Spezza and Heatley have 9 points, Alfredsson has 7 points. Then Shean Donovan and Picard have 4 points. They have two ex Lightning defensemen? oh boy their defense must really suck. Volchenkov and Phillips are a combined -11. And Brian Lee looks like a nice young D-man, and Jason Smith is steady, but he isn't getting points.

The goalies are the real issue, Gerber who is hurt is off to a terrible start, so it will be Auld tonight probably and his numbers are pretty solid. He is the hope tonight for the Sens.

The Sabres will counter with Patrick Lalime, so thats how bad the Sens are, they don't even get Miller tonight. Tallinder is probably out and that means Weber is in. I don't know if that is a upgrade or downgrade. And rumors of one of the 3 centers might be back tonight. Which is a good thing. I think the offense need more help. MacArthur isn't a second line player nor should be on the power play. But there shouldn't be a rush, they are banking points for the season. They aren't a first place team and will eventually settle in the middle. But it would be nice to beat up on the Sens.

I just think its a game where the Sens will play up, and the Sabres are in a comfortable zone. Its just one of those games where one team really wants it more then the other. I hope I'm wrong.

Sabres Sens Preview

Oh its a back to back matchup with the Senators a team Sabre fans love to hate. They always seem filled with smug guys, who think they are the best and I hope many just trip and fall face first into the boards. Plus recent playoff matchups have made things more feisty, along with the Brawl from last year. Ottawa is one of the few teams I can see the Sabres just want to beat on. Well early on in the year Ottawa was a juggernaut, couldn't be beat, now they are free falling through the standings. That trade didn't quite work out as well as thought and are only 5 points ahead of 8th in the conference. That from a team who seemed they were going to run away with 1st. Since January 1st they are 16-22-1. Which is pretty bad and 4-6 in their last 10. While other teams, Montreal, Pittsburgh got hot. Ottawa got cold, real cold. The Sens are 4-2 vs the Sabres this year but they haven't played since they lost 5-1 in Ottawa on Feb 12. So its time for some held over hostility.

The Sens

Well the Sens are always led by the big 3, Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza. Heatley leads with 39 goals and Spezza leads with 84 points. The acquisition of Cory Stillman, makes the drop off from the big 3 to the next guy not so bad. He has 24 goals and 64 points on the year. Mike Fisher is in 5th with 45 points. But has been ice cold of late. The problem for the Sens, just like always, who is net. Marty Gerber hasn't been bad this year and if it weren't for him, they might be fighting for the playoffs right now. But Ray Emery has been a disaster. From Stanley Cup goaltender to Enemy #1 in Ottawa. He hasn't played since February 28th. But the Sens are always dangerous with the top talent they do have. Chris Neil is back in the lineup, so that should stir up the Sabre faithful. Though he didn't play in the last game.

Outlook

Well I'll be in attendance, so that doesn't say good things for the boys in blue and gold. But still they gotta come out and put it to Ottawa there is no way they can go out and go through the motions. Ottawa, sure I can see. But Buffalo is playing for their playoff lives. Nathan Paetsch is back, not as good if it were Spacek, but I'll take him over Funk. Sekera and Weber can stay up as long as they want, and you might as well set up their lockers for next year. Well win or lose, I'm just looking for a good time. So see you at the Arena, hopefully if Fed Ex Ground is fast with my The Kaleta! shirt on.

Sabres Senators Preview

Say what you want about Leafs and Canadians games, the Senators are the Sabres true arch rival. You can tell these teams hate each other. Since the lockout they have battled to be the top of the East. Both feature offensive lineups and tons of bad blood spilled between the two. Now they meet a few times over the next couple weeks and will show if the Sabres are really up there in the East. They have split the season series one a piece. The Christmas Cheer will be gone once these two face off. The Sabres come in with a 6 game win streak, and the Senators come in 7-1-2 in their last 10, but 2-1-1 in their last 4.

Whats going on with Ottawa.

Well the Sens are tops of the east by a decent amount. Having the season the Sabres did last year, mowing over opponents to start the year then slowly coming back to earth. They are banged up on defense with Volchenkov and Corvo out. Which could be for the Sabres, Volchenkov is one of those steady guys who always shuts you down. But the Sens are always dangerous no matter the night, since they have so many talented guys on their roster. And have settled on Martin Gerber as their man in the net. Since starting out the year 13-1, the Senators have gone 10-7-4 in their last 21 games. This is a team looking to regain their earlier success.

Who does what on Ottawa

This team is led by their big line of Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson. Who are all in the 40 point range and there is no one on the roster with half as many points as any of these three. Plus The murderer, oooops, sorry Danny Heatley has a +32 on the year, which seems like its wrong. Other then the big 3 the sens have a bunch of muckers and grinders, Mike Fisher can be a good offensive weapon and would love him on the Sabres. Their defense is always stellar with Phillips, Redden, Meszaros and the crew. We all know who is on the Senators. Martin Gerber continues his one great year, followed by crappy year trend. He is playing lights out this year with a .927 sv% and a 2.31 GAA.

Interesting items

Looking through the NHL.com preview. Ryan Miller is 12-3 in his last 15, which is pretty amazing. No wonder Thibault isn't getting up. But on the flip side, 3-9 in his last 12 games against the Sens with even worse numbers. So Ryan needs to play well to overcome his lousy play against the Senators of late. This is not on tv in ottawa, wait what? The Sabres show all their games on TV and the Sens don't? How is that possible? Is it one of those pay per view deals? Nope. Mmm, thats odd. So will there be a lot of Sens fans in the crowd tonight?

enjoy the game!

Sabres Sens Preview

Hey look another game vs the Senators didn't we just play them (looks at schedule) oh yeah last Thursday. Ugh, more Northeast opponents. Yeah this 32 games against 4 teams really is a good thing, more like a really boring thing. Really why would I want to see the Sabres play the Red Wings a couple times a year, who would like that? HALF OF THE SABRES GAMES THIS YEAR HAVE BEEN DIVISION GAMES! But here we go again. These previews kinda just write themselves, like see last Thursday.

Whats new from Thursday?

Well not much, the teams are in the same position. One of conference giant, the other trying to just get their feet under them for the rest of the year. Since Thursday, the Sens have gone 1-1 with a 3-0 loss on Saturday and a 4-2 win against the Canadiens on Monday. The Sabres have gone 1-0 with a 4-1 over the Canadiens on Friday. So both teams beat the Habs since last Thursday. Tim Connolly maybe back tonight, which would help things out greatly. And if they could keep Macarthur up, that would also help the offense. Hes the Jason Pominville of 2 years ago. The guy who is sent down tears up the AHL and due to injuries gets called up to only keep his spot. Anything to keep Peters or Ryan out of the lineup the better.

Stats

If you want a good list of stats on either team, this PDF the Sabres put out is pretty good and should show you all you need and show you all you don't.

Interesting trend

Reading the general game preview put out on all networks there was an interesting add on near the end, when talking of Ryan Miller starting.

Miller has a 1.83 goals-against average in his last six starts, but has won only twice in that span.

Mmm, well obviously that goal drought came at a bad time, since Ryan is back on his game. Plus the defense is getting healthier. Well if Ryan keeps on playing well, the goals will come back and the Sabres can really start moving up the standings. Things have been bad for the Sabres, but they have the talent, the goaltending is back and the defense is only going to get better. But Max Afinogenov? I don't see hope for him, already a -10? It might be time to move him for a gritty 3rd liner.

Anyway Sabres Sens 730pm at the HSBC Arena and Mr Ronan Tynan makes an appearance.

Sabres Sens Preview

Well here we are 16 games into the season and the Sabres are already 15 points behind the Senators in the standings. But thats kinda unfair because the Sens are absolutely rolling over everyone this year, standing at 14-2. Its like the opposite of last year. The Sabres were rolling to start the season. The Sens were struggling and we Sabre fans enjoyed them struggling. But look what happened at the end of the year. It shows the beginning of the season is meaningless. This should be a interesting matchup when these two hook up at the Scotiabank Place at 730 tonight.

So whats been happening with the Senators

They are absolutely cruising through the competition, by going 9-1 in their last 10, and are a +22 in goal differential on the year. Meanwhile, the Sabres are tied for last in the conference and are a -6 in goal differential. We Sabre fans know the big guns on the Senators. Daniel Alfredsson is leading the team with 23 points, followed by Dany Heatley with 19 points, Mike Fisher with 13 points and Jason Spezza with 13 points. So they are obviously getting production from their big guns, and getting some points from Mike Fisher, who is a player I really like. Phillips and Volchenkov are really locking it down this year with a combined +27. Marty Gerber will be getting the start and really is showing why they brought him in to start last year, with a GAA 1.73 and a .943 SV%.

Those excited to see Mike Foligno's kid, have to wait, with the return of Jason Spezza from a groin injury, he was just sent down.

Hey this is a neat idea, but that seems like a bit much to watch a regular season hockey game. Almost 11 bucks to watch the Senators to play the Bruins? Sure its on a big screen and cool, but the bruins? You would have to pay me to watch that team play. But if you have nothing better to do on Thanksgiving, head up to Ottawa and watch them play the Penguins on a large screen for 11 Canadian.

Outlook

Well common sense heading into this matchup, is that the Sabres are gonna get worked. A team that can score at will versus one that couldn't throw the puck in the net. But not so fast Sabre fan. These teams don't like one another. They are practically the same teams as last year, minus a few key players. But the animosity is still there, plus the Sabres really want to break out of their slump. So anything can happen. I would expect Derek Roy to do something tonight since he tends to play well in his hometown. Tim Connolly isn't going to play, Nolan Pratt might and Max has found himself between Peters and Ryan. Well the team is getting healthier, and poor Max, how far have you fallen.

All I know is I'll be at some benefit and out with GCFB's new lady. So have fun watching.