Buffalo Sabres host New York Islanders as both search victory – NHL Preview
‘Inconsistent’ and ‘unpredictable’ are the best terms to define the recent run of New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Inconsistent because they win and lose all the time and struggle sometimes on offence, sometimes on defence and sometimes on both of them.
Unpredictable because you never know when they will recover from the slump to display marvels and often when you expect them to win, the result is otherwise and vice versa.
Both these teams are going to face each other on Tuesday, February 21, 2012, at First Niagara Center, Buffalo, New York.
Let’s take a look at how these teams have been performing of late.
Sabres
Sabres are placed nearly at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but they showed signs of a winning team recently, giving a strong impression that they should not be left out of the playoff contention.
They defeated teams like New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins, but soon went down.
Their three-game winning run was hampered by Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this month and then they continued dreaming for a victory while losing three more games.
Against all odds, they snapped the losing streak by defeating Pittsburgh Penguins impressively.
Sabres scored two goals in the first period, one in the second and three in the final to stun the Penguins.
The final score settled at 6-2.
Sabres are placed at 14th spot in the conference with 57 points after 59 games.
Islanders
A victory ensued by a defeat that is then followed by another victory and another defeat and so on...
This is what Islanders have been doing so far in this month and it is also the reason they are still out of the safe zone.
They are ranked at 12th spot in the Eastern Conference with 58 points after 59 games.
Islanders’ last game was against Ottawa Senators, who crushed the former mercilessly.
Senators scored three goals in the first period, one in the second and two in the final while Islanders could not even get one scoring move.
Islanders’ coach, Jack Capuano, said after the game:
“This was very disappointing. We came with no physicality and stood around and watched their best players. You have to battle and compete and we didn't."
Predictions
Sabres will win.
The sum of goals scored by both the teams might stay under six.
In case of Islanders’ victory, the winning margin winning margin will be less than two goals.
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