Before the season started, we would have looked at tonight’s Blue Jackets game in Buffalo as a likely meaningless matchup. After all, most of us probably expected the Jackets to have already locked up a playoff spot-while also expecting the Sabres to be out of the mix.<\/p>\n
That isn’t the case. This game has massive implications for both sides. The Jackets are still trying to keep their playoff hopes alive, and will almost certainly need to come away with points tonight to do so. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Sabres are trying to lock up not only first place in the Atlantic Division-but also the Eastern Conference. They are the surprise of the league this season, finally taking a massive step forward after a decade and a half at the bottom. <\/p>\n
The Opponent<\/p>\n
All it took was one move to completely flip the Sabres in the right direction. On December 15th, they made a change at the GM position,<\/a> firing former Blue Jacket forward Kevyn Adams; and replacing him with former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen.<\/p>\n Jarmo did not make any meaningful changes to the roster. He simply met with the team, and they absolutely snapped into shape. At that time, the Sabres were 14-14-4 (32 points), tied with the Jackets for last place in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n Since that change and meeting, they are 34-9-4, best in the NHL over that span. They sit with 104 points (48-23-8),<\/a> well within striking distance of the Carolina Hurricanes, who are just two points ahead of them for first in the East.<\/p>\n It’s been a full team effort. Tage Thompson leads the Sabres in both goals (38) and points (79), <\/a>but they get balanced scoring throughout their entire lineup. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is second with 71 points, but it’s more worth noting that they have 13(!) players with 10 or more goals. <\/p>\n The Sabres score by committee, and it’s working. They currently sit 6th in the NHL<\/a> in offense with 270 goals scored. And, they are respectable defensively, surrendering 236 goals against (14th-best). <\/p>\n Similar to their offensive production, they get goaltending by committee. Both Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (.909% save percentage, 2.56 goals against average) and Alex Lyon (.907%, 2.77) have held down the fort, splitting time almost exactly even between them. <\/p>\n Luukkonen started last night, as the Sabres won 5-3 against the Rangers. So, expect Lyon to get the call tonight. He’s 1-0-1 against the Blue Jackets<\/a> in his career, with a .949%, 1.52 line-and one shutout. Not a good sign for a team that has struggled to score goals of late.<\/p>\n The Good Guys<\/p>\n It felt like the season was coming to an end for the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night in Detroit. After giving up a late go-ahead goal, the game we called a must-win was slipping away. <\/p>\n Then, the unbelievable happened. <\/a>Adam Fantilli scored the tying goal with just 17 seconds left on the clock. The Jackets went on to win in the shootout, taking a massive 2 points away from the stunned Red Wings.<\/p>\n As a result, their playoff hopes are slim, but still alive. They will need to win at least 3 of their remaining 4 games to realistically have a shot. If they can win all 4, that would be better, but still no guarantee. Unfortunately, they played their way out of controlling their own destiny.<\/p>\n We’ll have to wait until later in the day to see what the full lineup will look like, but Rick Bowness did announce Jet Greaves<\/a> as the game’s starter in goal, earlier this morning. We will update the article as lineups come out.<\/p>\n Three Keys to Success<\/p>\n 1. Survive the open. Buffalo played last night on the road, so I expect them to start hot tonight. Their crowd will be wild, and they will feed off of that early. The Jackets will need to bend without breaking to stay in this game right away.<\/p>\n 2. Tame the Lyon. The Blue Jackets need to find traffic, and those coveted second and third chances against Alex Lyon tonight. They will probably need 3-4 goals again to win this game, against a team that doesn’t have much difficulty scoring.<\/p>\n 3. Build momentum. The win in Detroit was encouraging. Now, it’s time for this team to build off of that and prove that they belong in a playoff spot. You can’t make the playoffs unless you can win some of these games, and a win tonight would give them a lot of momentum.<\/p>\n