2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series – Buffalo Sabres host the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time in the season
The Buffalo Sabres will be playing host to the Pittsburgh Penguins this Wednesday. The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking in good shape ahead of the match as they meet the Buffalo Sabres in their first of four matches scheduled to take place during the course
of the season.
The Buffalo Sabres have recently piled up excellent results except for the last game which they lost. Regarding their current form, then they have lost only 1 of their last 4 matches heading into this Wednesday showdown as they host the 2009 Stanley Cup
Champions, Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Buffalo Sabres' main element of victory has been their star goal keeper Ryan Miller who missed the last game on Saturday as the Sabres lost 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The main concern is that he is still injured and will be missing the match against
the Penguins.
The Buffalo Sabres have currently played 22 games in the season thus far and won 11 of the game while losing 11 games. They sit in a decent position with 19 points. Patrick Lalime, who replaced Miller in the goal keeping department made 20 saves this Saturday
though the Sabres lost 2-1.
Talking about his performance this Saturday he said, "I made a mistake and it cost us the game," said Lalime, who could get the call again Wednesday. "I made the wrong play there, tried to draw the guy in and made the wrong pass. I think it was just a bad
pass. It always seems when I make a mistake, we pay for it somehow. I just can't make those."
The Pittsburgh Penguins on the other hand are in a good position relatively as they have won 14 out of their 22 games. Losing only 8 games they sit with 26 points.
The Pittsburgh also lost the game against the New York Rangers this Monday ending their 3 games winning streak. They established 2 goals lead to their advantage but the Rangers scored twice to level the score in the final stages of the match. The match was
won by the Rangers in overtime eventually.
The Penguins was successful in coming back as they defeated the Florida Panthers in their next game with a late goal by Chris Conner.
Commenting on the win the Captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby said, "Our second wasn't great," Sidney Crosby said. "They probably played better. The third was probably 50-50. … A big goal from Conner, and (Marc-Andre Fleury) made some big saves.
It wasn't going to be pretty, but we found a way."
The last meeting between the two teams that took place on the 2nd of March 2010 saw the Pittsburgh Penguins emerging as the winners 3-2. The Penguins look in a better shape to register a win once again. Coupled with the above fact is that their
Captain Sidney Crosby is in hot form scoring 9 goals during the season with 9 huge assists.
The game would be an entertaining one as both teams would be missing some of their stars players with the Penguins missing their goalie Brent Johnson and Sabres playing without the services of Tim Connolly and Drew Stafford.
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