The Buffalo Sabres have brought back the old tradition of Tux and Pucks to the First Niagara Center tonight, New Year's Eve. What the Sabres really need to do though is to start tucking those pucks into the net. After last night's disappointing offensive performance in Washington, DC, they really need to light a fire and get some early goals to close out 2011. Otherwise, Sabres fans won't have much to cheer for going into the New Year.
Tonight Buffalo takes on the Ottawa Senators who are coming off of a 4-3 overtime win at home last night against the Calgary Flames. The Sens are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games while the Sabres have struggled with a 3-6-1 record. The good news of course is that Buffalo is currently on a winning streak at home and will make it a season high 3 games in a row with a win tonight. If the Sabres want to stay within striking distance of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa, they have to win tonight.
Of course to win, you need to score. If Buffalo can come out and get some early goals from their dynamic duo, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville, it could help motivate the rest of the team to play smart hockey. Vanek and Pominville continue to be the NHL's second leading pair in recording points on the same goal. Even when they are working alone, one of them has recorded a point on 50% of the teams goals. Anyone watching a Sabres game knows how important these players are to the team, but the statistics speak volumes about the rest of the team's contributions.
To be successful, the Sabres need more scoring out of their 2nd and 3rd lines. Derek Roy and Drew Stafford just haven't put enough goals in the net this season. Going into the last game of the year, Roy and Stafford only have 14 goals between the two of them. Forward Milan Michalek of the Ottawa Senators has 19 goals on his own this season. Terry Pegula could have saved himself $4 million this year in salaries if he could trade Roy and Stafford for Michalek and had a better chance at winning some games.
As the year comes to a close, there are a lot of questions Sabres fans want answered and dealt with in the New Year. They can only hope that the team wants to start 2012 out right by ending 2011 with a big win at home over the Senators.
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