Working on my understanding of other teams in the league, I'm continuing my project of previewing the games for Islanders fans, focusing on their opponents to enhance the viewing experience. Some of the info is grabbed from pregame notes from the internet, or extrapolated from looking at stats.
Buffalo Sabres at New York Islanders
1:00 PM, UBS Arena, Belmont NY
Goaltenders:
BUF: Luukkonen(2.66 GAA, .905 SV%)
NYI: Rittich (2.49 GAA, .906 SV%)
The Islanders are back from an extended road trip, for one game before traveling on to Philadelphia for Monday against the Flyers, another team right on the playoff bubble.
Let's look at the matchup at hand: the Buffalo Sabres. Despite a bit of a rocky start to the season, they corrected course significantly with a 10 game winning streak that basically lasted all of December, after General Manager Kevyn Adams was fired in and replaced by Jarmo Kekalainen. You may recall our loss against Buffalo during that stretch, the score was 3-2, a shootout win for the Sabres.
They definitely beat up on some weaker teams like the Canucks and the Devils, but to win 10 straight you almost definitely will need to take down some goliath- they did that against the Dallas Stars, proving that they weren't just streaky, there was legitimate competency being shown. (Although the Blue Jackets were the team to end the streak).
They are coming off a game Thursday in Montreal, where they won, 4-2. Today's game is their fourth of five on the road. Overall, their road record is 12-11-2.
Game Against Montreal: https://www.nhl.com/video/topic/game-recaps/buf-at-mtl-recap-6388121634112
Goal: Zucker, Assist Jack Quinn (nice breakout by Quinn, backhanded flick across the royal road and punched home by Zucker)
Goal: Malenstyn #29, SHG! sleek takeaway, breakaway by beating Noah Dobson in a footrace, backhanded shot to beat the goalie. Very snazzy.
Goal: Benson #6, a really persistent second effort after a beautiful backhander by Helenius
Goal: Krebs #19, EN from behind the blue line
My impression from watching is that they Sabres are a dynamic team, they have more star power than you'd expect, and they are definitely deserving of being in the midst of the playoff hunt.
So WHO are the Sabres overall? They are a resilient group, who came back from early adversity to show competent play through this surge. They are no gimme win, that's for certain.
The team has been led by the strong play of forward Tage Thompson (26 goals) and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who continues to establish himself as one of the league's top blueliners
Key Players:
Tage Thompson: C, #72. The primary offensive force; leads the team in scoring. (Goals: 26, Points: 52)
Rasmus Dahlin: D, #26. The two-way defensive cornerstone and power-play quarterback. (Assists: 29)
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: G, #1. Provided the solid, timely goaltending during the 10-game streak that was crucial for their turnaround. – not slated to start today
Alex Tuch: RW, #89. A physical and dependable veteran presence who contributes significantly on the scoresheet. (Points: 41)
Owen Power: D, #25. The reliable, composed blueliner who anchors the second defensive pairing.
Let's look at the projected lines:
BUFFALO 28-17-5:
Josh Doan- Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Zach Benson -Noah Ostlund – Konsta Helenius
Jordan Greenway- Peyton Krebs – Beck Malenstyn
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram – Owen Power
Zach Metsa – Michael Kesselring
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Dahlin is expected to play after not practicing Friday for maintenance
ISLES 27-18-5:
Jonathan Drouin — Bo Horvat — Emil Heineman
Anders Lee — Mathew Barzal – Anthony Duclair
Max Shabanov — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Simon Holmstrom
Kyle MacLean — Casey Cizikas — Calum Ritchie
Matthew Schaefer — Scott Mayfield
Adam Pelech — Tony DeAngelo
Adam Boqvist — Isaiah George
David Rittich
Bo Horvat joined the New York Islanders for practice on Friday morning in his first skate with the team since he sustained a lower-body injury in a game vs the Utah Mammoth on Jan. 1.
Ryan Pulock (upper body) missed Friday's practice and is considered day-to-day. The defenseman met with a doctor on Friday, per the team.
George was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Saturday. … The Islanders returned defenseman Cole McWard to Bridgeport.
The Islanders hope to stay the course, they are 5-4-1 in their last 10. They are right on that playoff cusp, they've seen their ranking drop among the other contenders, and are currently in 8th place for the Eastern Conference, compared to Buffalo in 5th place.
They are coming off a pretty rough loss against the Kraken on Wednesday. They are well rested, and they're at home, maybe that will be enough to get things going.