Pressing towards the trade deadline with a game-packed stretch coming up

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-15-2019 The Buffalo Sabres took Monday and Wednesday off this week and will finish a seven-game homestand with a bout against the NY Rangers tonight at KeyBank Center. Buffalo started out this stand getting trampled upon by the Chicago Blackhawks and proceeded to alternate between wins and losses the next five games. A win tonight would be big on a number of levels as it would offer up a bit of redemption for the club after a rough start to the homestand, it will give them their first back-to-back wins since December, and it will pull them a bit closer to a playoff spot. Buffalo's 3-2-1 record during the stand is decent so far but it hasn't been enough to significantly move the needle in their playoff push and losing to the Carolina Hurricanes last week certainly didn't help matters even if they did get a loser-point. The 'Canes jumped ahead of Buffalo in the standings with that 6-5 overtime win although the Sabres still have a game in hand. Tonight Carolina hosts the struggling Edmonton Oilers who are presently in a death-spiral (2-6-2 in their last 10 games.) Yesterday's scoreboard was kind to the Sabres as two teams they're chasing both lost. The Columbus Blue Jackets, who are presently in a dog-fight to stay top-three in the Metropolitan Division were shutout 3-0 and the Montreal Canadiens who sit third in the Atlantic Division lost 3-1 last night. Buffalo is four points behind the Jackets while playing the same number of games and they're six points behind the Habs with a game in hand meaning a win tonight will pull the Sabres that much closer to teams they're chasing.
Defense was the name of the game in Buffalo's last three contests with the winner coming out on top by the exact same 3-1 score. Whether it's a harbinger of things to come for this team is yet to be determined as it's up to the players as to how they want to approach that philosophy game-in, game-out. Against Chicago they gave up too many odd-man rushes and against the Hurricanes they allowed Carolina to do what they wanted below the hash-marks without any interference. In both cases it was a recipe for disaster as they gave up 13 goals in those two games. Add in the four goals the Minnesota Wild scored (in a 5-4 Buffalo win) and you have a grand total of 17 goals in three games which isn't exactly a recipe for success. Buffalo coach Phil Housley emphasized attention to the defensive aspects of the game and the team responded with a 3-1 win vs. Detroit on Saturday. The following afternoon they played the same style against the Central Division-leading Winnipeg Jets but were done in by a tie-breaking goal with less than four minutes to play in the third period. Winnipeg added an empty-netter for the 3-1 final score. The Sabres continued their focus on defense and held the Metro-leading NY Islanders to one goal while putting up three of their own against the stingiest goalie tandem in the league (NHL-best 2.29 goals-against average.) The rebuilding Rangers represent a tough out for the Sabres as they're starting to get their groove on with a young team. As veteran goalie Henrik Lundqvist goes, so goes the Rangers but with that said, 23 yr. old backup Alexander Georgiev looks to be in net tonight vs. Buffalo. Although his overall numbers of a 3.11 GAA and .911 sv% don't look overly impressive, Georgiev was incredible in his last game on Sunday as he set a Madison Square Garden record for saves by a Rangers goaltender when he stopped 55 Toronto Maple Leafs shots in 4-1 win. New York head coach Dan Quinn told the local media of the decision to start him tonight, "You want to get him back in, and every decision is based upon what's best for both [him and Lundqvist]. Georgie's playing well, he's a young kid that we want to continue to see what he can do and develop, continue to prove himself at this level." The last time these two teams met back in early November, Buffalo played it's best game of the season to date but met up with a wall named Lundqvist who stopped 39 of 40 shots to lead the Rangers to a 3-1 win. In the prior October meeting, Buffalo got two by him (on 28 shots) and came away with a 3-1 win. The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Rangers, 3-5-2 at home. It looks as if Buffalo will counter with Linus Ullmark in net. The 25 yr. old netminder is coming off of excellent performances in his last two starts vs. the Red Wings and Islanders. Ullmark faced a total of 52 shots in those games allowing only one goal in each and the Sabres came away with victories in both. Although his overall numbers are rather pedestrian (2.89 GAA, .913 sv%) he's been getting the wins for Buffalo as his 13-5-4 record might indicate. When the Sabres in front of him put forth a semblance of a defensive effort, Ullmark (as well as starter Carter Hutton) seems to be able to come up with a big save or two too keep them in it. When they don't, it's a disaster. Ullmark has two shutouts on the season but has also given up six goals twice, five goals thrice and four goals on three other occasions. Buffalo looks to be without rookie center Casey Mittelstadt tonight as he still hasn't recovered from a lower-body injury suffered during practice earlier this week. However, defenseman Zach Bogosian looks to be back from a LBI as those at the rink reported he was next to rookie d-man Rasmus Dahlin on the Sabres second d-pairing. According to twitter reports, here's the lineup for tonight: Skinner-Eichel-Pominville
Sheary-Rodrigues-Reinhart
Smith-Sobotka-Thompson
Girgensons-Larsson-Okposo

Scandella-Ristolainen
Dahlin-Bogosian
McCabe-Pilut
Extras: Mittelstadt, Hunwick and Beaulieu The NHL trade deadline is a mere 10 days away and all's been quite on the Sabres front, at least on the surface. Buffalo GM Jason Botterill has been running a pretty tight ship when it comes to inside info but his overall philosophy for this season is that he won't be giving up anything of value (like a first round pick) for a rental and we're pretty sure he'll be sticking to that. The Sabres are in the hunt for a playoff spot and are itching to end a seven year post-season drought but it won't be at the expense of the future. Buffalo has three winnable games before the deadline beginning with the 56-point Rangers tonight followed by a trip to New Jersey (50 points) before heading to Florida to take on the Panthers (56 points.) After that they have two tough games at the Tampa Bay Lightning and at home vs. the Washington Capitals. Buffalo finishes the month with a road back-to-back at Toronto on Monday, February 25 followed by a visit to Philadelphia to take on the red-hot Flyers the following night. For those counting that's seven games in 12 nights which includes four of five games on the road to finish the month.