Buffalo Sabres Fan Chatter: Preseason Game #2, Or The One Against Ottawa
The Buffalo Sabres suffered a lost in their first preseason game, but will a return home help them earn a W?
Well that was interesting!
The Buffalo Sabres may have lost to the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in the Pegula Ice Arena last night – disappointing, sure – but there were a few signs of good things to come on display.
For starters, the Sabres outshot the Wild 40-31 on the evening – still too many shots allowed, but a much better show of offensive firepower.
Second, the love-him-or-leave-him Evander Kane was throwing his body around and generating the most shots for his team, with seven. Let’s hope this is a sign of someone who is ready to become a legitimate 30-goal scorer in the NHL.
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And how about Anders Nilsson? Acquired in July, Nilsson stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced in two periods of play. With goaltending being a huge question mark for this team, Nilsson’s performance was a great surprise.
A loss is never what fans want to see, but the preseason is all about giving fresh faces a chance to impress and trying out different line combinations. I wasn’t too unhappy about last night’s loss, but will the positives carry over into tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators?
Here’s the projected Sabres lineup:
Forwards: 63 Tyler Ennis – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 21 Kyle Okposo
44 Nicolas Deslauriers – 27 Derek Grant – 26 Matt Moulson
71 Evan Rodrigues – 72 Jean Dupuy – 52 Hudson Fasching
86 Eric Cornel – 43 Daniel Catenacci – 73 Nicholas Baptiste
Defensemen: 6 Cody Franson, 29 Jake McCabe, 46 Erik Burgdoerfer, 47 Zach Bogosian, 67 Brady Austin, 81 Mac Bennett
40 Robin Lehner
33 Jason Kasdorf
Power Play (First Unit)
Moulson-Ennis-Okposo-Bogosian-Franson
Power Play (Second Unit)
Fasching-Girgensons-Grant-Baptiste-McCabe
Lehner is on tap to play the entire game, if that means anything to you! Now, let’s make our picks for tonight’s preseason game, which is going down at the newly-named Key Bank Center.
1. Who scores Buffalo’s first goal of the game tonight? (10 pts.)
2. How many points does Okposo wind up with in his unofficial Buffalo Sabres debut? (5 pts.)
3. How many goals does Lehner allow tonight? (10 pts.)
4. Project the +/-for Baptiste. (5 pts.)
5. Who wins the game? (5 pts.)
Hopefully, the Buffalo Sabres will continue trending upward this postseason, so sound off below and let’s go Buffalo!
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