Light Up the Lamp

Sabres Need to Capitalize

The Buffalo Sabres have the 8th and final spot in the Eastern Conference Playoff picture but they may not be there for long. The Washington Capitals play the Minnesotta Wild this afternoon in Washington, DC and can retake 8th place from Buffalo. With the Sabres' next game being on Tuesday at Washington, the pressure to win will be overwhelming as the two clubs face-off in the Verizon Center.

Buffalo will have two days rest going into the game though which will be helpful. They are coming off of another back to back set of games this week and can use the time to prepare for the Capitals. The big question though is if Buffalo can keep up their momentum heading into Tuesday night's game.

Currently the Sabres have been one of the hottest teams in the league. The line of Tyler Ennis, Drew Stafford and Marcus Foligno has been unstoppable since they began playing together a few weeks ago. Pair that with additional help from the defense including big Tyler Myers and stone-cold goaltending from Ryan Miller and you have the formula for a Sabres team on a role.

The Verizon Center is not an easy arena to play in but the Sabres can give themselves an advantage by getting a couple of goals early. If you take the crowd out of it early there, the Caps seem to struggle to get back into a game. Also it will be vital for the team to play a tight, physical game with a continued emphasis on the forecheck. If they can just keep the pressure on the Washington throughout the course of the game, they should be able to shut down their offense from organizing any offense.

Neglected Blog

I've been neglecting the blog as of late so there hasn't been too many additional posts outside of my writings with the The Armchair Report. We're approaching the NHL playoffs though so I should be back with some more supplemental writings in addition to my Armchair stuff. I'm also looking to redesign the blog so hopefully I can get that up and going in time for the playoffs.

Thanks to anyone who has downloaded my Android App. Hopefully you find it useful in keeping up with my writings. I hope to do more with the App as well so keep an eye out for updates. If you are interested in the Light Up the Lamp App which will give you quick access to all of my hockey articles, blog posts and tweets, head over to Google Play and search "light up the lamp hockey" or download it to your android device here.

Jetting Off to Winnipeg

Buffalo Sabres have now gone 10 road games without a win and 153 minutes since someone other then captain Jason Pominville has scored a goal. In the last 16 games, the Sabres have only scored 33 goals while giving up 58 goals to opponents. Fortunately for Buffalo, tonight's opponent, the Winnipeg Jets, have been struggling lately as well with only 1 win in the last 5 games.

The Sabres may be able to come up with a win tonight as the MTS Center hasn't been as difficult to win in as it was in the beginning of the season. The Jets have actually dropped 2 games in a row at home but still maintain a 14-8-1 record there. Its just a matter of time before the Sabres break this loosing streak; its just a question of who other then Pominville will step up to make it happen.

It will be the Sabres first trip to Winnipeg since the Atlanta Thrashers moved up there this year. Will playing in front of a passionate hockey crowd inspire Buffalo to turn it around? Fans will hope and see when the puck drops at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Sabres Blow Into Windy City

The Buffalo Sabres next stop on their road trip will be the United Center in Chicago, IL to take on the Chicago Blackhawks tonight on the NBC Sports Network. The Sabres are in a serious rut and are coming off a heartbreaking 5-0 loss on Monday night to the Detroit Red Wings. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks on Sunday 4-3 and continue to fight for first place in the NHL's Central Division.

Buffalo's loss on Monday is their 9th in a row on the road. They desperately need to get something going if there is any hope of gaining momentum before the NHL All-Star Break. The offense continues to struggle to capitalize on scoring opportunities and the defensive play still seems to be lacking for Buffalo. They currently have the 6th worst goal differential in the NHL with a -22. If the Sabres want to pick up two points tonight in Chicago, they need to score some goals and somehow hold off the talented Blackhawks' offense.

Chicago has two 20+ goal scorers on their roster, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp, and four other 10+ goal scorers, one of which includes Buffalo native, Patrick Kane. Unfortunately Sharp has been out on injured reserve since January 9, 2012 with a wrist injury and is expected to be out 3-4 weeks. Fortunately, the entire team has combined for 150 goals so far this season which is 3rd best in the NHL behind the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins. Despite loosing a key player, they should still be able to get adequate scoring from deeper in the lineup. Combined with consistent goaltending from both Corey Crawford and Ray Emery, the Blackhawks should continue to remain competitive in the wild, wild Western Conference.

As for tonight, the Buffalo Sabres will have to dig deep to overcome the embarrassment they faced on Monday night against Detroit. If Ryan Miller can look past that disappointing game in his home state, he could be the force to motivate this team to start playing better and maybe even pick up an upset win tonight in Chicago.

Sabres and Red Wings, Opposites Collide

The Buffalo Sabres are heading into their second of six road games before the NHL All-Star Break that begins January 26, 2012. The Sabres will be taking on some of the hottest teams in the Midwest on this road trip which begins with a trip to Hockeytown, USA to take on the Detroit Red Wings tonight. Despite both being strong hockey towns and neighboring countries with Canada, the similarities end there.

The Sabres and Red Wings couldn't be more polar opposites at this time in the season. Buffalo has struggled through most of the season and continues to slip out of the playoff picture. With only a record of 3-5-2 in the last 10 games, fans continue to beg for some sort of change to the team that might turn the season around. The Sabres also continue to battle tons of injuries through out the lineup which has been where they have been able to center most of the blame. Key offensive forwards like Derek Roy and Drew Stafford continue to play mediocre at best most games and the defense continues to give up odd-man rushes that are too much for the lackluster goaltending of their starter, Ryan Miller.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Red Wings continue to stay competitive in the tight Central Division of the wild, wild Western Conference. The Red Wings have had to play well to keep up with the Chicago Blackhawks, earning a 7-3-0 record in their last ten games and maintaining an extraordinary home record of 17-2-1 so far this season. In fact, Detroit is looking for a franchise record of 15 home wins in a row tonight with a victory over Buffalo who can't seem to win at home or away. The Red Wings continue to get good offensive production from their lineup led by star forward Pavel Datsyuk who is just a head of the Sabres' point leader, Jason Pominville in total points. Detroit also continues to play solid defense and is ranked 6th in the NHL with 2.34 goals against per game. Of course much of the credit for keeping pucks out of the net goes to their All-Star goaltender, Jimmy Howard who leads the NHL in wins and is tied for 3rd in shutouts with 4 this season.

Opposites will collide tonight in Detroit, MI as the Sabres hope to create some momentum on the road while the Red Wings hope to maintain it in front of their sure to be sellout crowd in Joe Lewis Arena. As Hockeytown and Hockey Heaven meet tonight, the teams' situations contrast even more then their red and blue sweaters do.