Sabres vs. Hurricanes

The Morning Skate: Sabres vs. Hurricanes

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

There will be plenty of fanfare at the First Niagara Center as the Buffalo Sabres open their home schedule against the Hurricanes after a five-day layoff tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Buffalo, currently 2-0-0 and tied with Toronto for the Northeast Division lead, have enjoyed a five-day layoff as they recuperate from their trip to the NHL Premiere. Carolina is fresh off their first victory of the season, a 3-2 triumph over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.

A pre-game plaza party will take place outside the First Niagara Center as there will certainly be some fireworks in store for those holding a ticket for the first home opener in the Pegula Era. There is a chance the hoopla surrounding the first game may end up being distracting, but there is no reason for Buffalo to come out flat. Between the five-day break, the brand new locker facilities and the momentum they built with their two convincing victories in Europe, the Sabres should have little trouble finding energy for this game.

Carolina has struggled a bit as the season opens up. The Canes have managed three out of a possible eight points and have allowed at least four goals in all but one contest. They should build off their win over the defending Stanley Cup champs and the fact that they held the Sabres attack at bay in the 2010-11 season series.

The Hurricanes didn’t do much to upgrade their roster in the offseason, bringing in a trio of ex-Maple Leafs (Tim Brent, Tomas Kaberle and Alexei Ponikarovsky) and promoting some youngsters. Between the pipes is where the Canes will win this game. They boast two goaltenders – Cam Ward and newcomer Brian Boucher – who have a good history against Buffalo.

Buffalo will likely ice the same lineup they had in Europe, with Matt Ellis, Jochen Hecht and Mike Weber as the scratches. The Sabres potent line up will be foreign to the Canes and could create matchup problems early in the contest.

Highlighted Matchup

Buffalo’s three scoring lines against the Carolina defense. The Canes have plenty of forwards that are capable of serving in a checking role. However, they have three defensemen under the age of 25 and at least 50% of the blueline would fall under the offensive defenseman classification. If the Sabres can exploit the last change to get their skill players against a non-checking line, they should have success in generating offense.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Ryan Miller 2 GP, 2-0-0, 1.50 GAA, .952 SV%

CAR: Cam Ward 3 GP, 1-2-0, 3.35 GAA, .885 SV%

2010-11 Season Series: BUF 2-1-1

1/13/2011, HSBC Arena, Sabres 3 – Hurricanes 2

3/3/2011, RBC Center, Sabres 2 – Hurricanes 3 OT

3/15/2011, HSBC Arena, Sabres 0 – Hurricanes 1

4/3/2011, RBC Center, Sabres 2 – Hurricanes 1 OT

Team Stats

BUF 2-0-0 4pts (T-1 NE), PP 3/8 37.5% (2), PK 6/7 85.7% (T-15)

CAR 1-3-1

Double Minors: Sabres 3 – Hurricanes 1

Chris OstranderLeave a comment
Nathan Gerbe nets the game winner as the Sabres beat Carolina 3-1.

It was Slug Appreciation Day, every one and their third cousin came to the First Niagara Center to upgrade their logos. Tonight also marked the first time all the arena upgrades would be on display for the fans to see as the first hockey game was played under the First Niagara Center banner. Oh yeah, the Sabres came back to win 3-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

While there wasn’t any pomp or circumstance to the new arena name, or the snazzy new upgrades, the Sabres played to a sell out crowd for a preseason hockey game. It was pretty clear that the hockey community was beyond ready for this game to happen as the Pegula Effect has been in full swing all summer.

The Sabres iced a pretty strong roster with about a 50/50 split of players expected to play with the big club and those destined for Rochester. Ville Leino and Drew MacIntrye were the only new faces to play this evening. For what it’s worth, Paul Gaustad wore the ‘C’ while Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford both served as alternate captains. Of course, the ‘C’ and ‘A’s will rotate as the preseason carries on, but Gaustad and Myers are certainly on the leadership track for this hockey club.

As for the game: Continue reading →

The Morning Skate: Sabres vs. Hurricanes

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Hockey is officially back in Buffalo. Last week offered a tease as the Sabres’ prospects took a 5-2 victory in the Traverse City championship. However, today the big club takes the ice for the first time in preparation for the 2011-12 season.

The Sabres are currently split into practice groups and the first group will be taking the ice this evening. It will be a fun roster to watch as there are plenty of familiar faces along with some young players who should offer fans an  interesting vantage point.Villie Leino will play his first game as a Sabre and Luke Adam, Marcus Foligno and Zack Kassian will remain together after dominating in Traverse City. Here is the remainder of the roster: Continue reading →