We've already talked about why the Sabres should win tonight, and after what we saw on Saturday there's no excuse not to give a similar effort at home following after two days off. To top all that off, the Sabres are getting healthy again, with Craig Rivet returning to the lineup tonight, and Tim Connolly not far behind. Afinogenov will miss some time after getting run by Chara, but at this point that's not going to be much of a factor.
The Sens are having injury issues as well, with Anton Volchenkov missing the Devils game and likely to miss tonight. Add in Kuba's stint on IR and you have a very weak defense on a team already struggling with that very issue. Ottawa is stressing the importance of this game, but when you are that far down the standings it seems like every game is that important.
Paul Hamilton has word on Teppo's status (questionable), as well as the news of Toni Lydman's illness. He's doubtful tonight, and that's bad news because he was most likely to face the Big Three all night. Craig coming back cushions the blow significantly (if he's anywhere near %100, that is) but it will be interesting to see how the rest of the blueline plays with Lydman out.
Buffalo still has a home record hovering just over .500, but Ottawa comes in with a 4-12-3 record on the road. They just haven't been scoring goals lately, and if Miller turns in a solid performance and the defense defends the Big Three tonight should be easy. The Sabres never seem to make it easy on themselves when playing the Sens, but if there's one game they absolutely should win this week it's this one.
7pm start from the Arena tonight. There aren't many home games this month, so enjoy the HD while it lasts.
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This is indeed a nice stuff.
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