Buffalo Sabres host the in-form New Jersey Devils in the fourth and final meeting between them
Buffalo Sabres will play host to New Jersey Devils this Saturday in another one of the interesting battles.
This will be the fourth and final meeting between the two teams during the course of the season.
Out of the three meetings that have taken place between the two teams during the course of the season so far, Devils won the first game while Sabres won the last two, 6-1 and 5-4.
This will be the first time the two teams face each other in 2011 and will decide whether Devils level the series or Sabres take it away.
Sabres are giving it all they have as they look to maintain their final play-off spot in the Eastern Conference.
The battle is getting ever so close but a win in their last game has helped Sabres extend their lead to three points over the ninth placed Carolina Hurricanes.
Devils were on a roll in the second part of the season and they were almost in the cut after trailing the final play-off positioned team by 27 points.
However, after their inconsistence recently the gap is back into double digits.
The last game that Devils played was against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Devils had offensive problems in the first period which resulted in them scoring no goals.
Both teams came out strong in the last two periods but no goals were scored. However, the Penguins won the game after shootout handing Devils a bitter 1-0 defeat. James Neal was the scorer of the winning shot in the shootout.
"That's a good team we played," said Patrik Elias, who was stopped by Fleury on Devils' final attempt. "It's a little frustrating because we're not scoring. But he's one of the top guys in the League."
Devils have played 74 games during the course of the season so far out of which they have won 34 games in regulation time, five games in overtime to score a total of 73 points.
Sabres have played 74 games too and piled up 37 wins in regulation time, nine games in overtime to score a total of 83 points.
Sabres was up against the Florida Panthers in their last game.
They were the dominating force throughout the period and they managed to win the game 4-2 in the end. Contributions came from everywhere and the team combined very well. This was encouraging for the team as they need to this in the remaining few games to
ensure a spot in the play-offs.
"Once you get that one goal, the crowd gets into it and the momentum shifts," Jason Pominville said. "And then we got another one off the bat, and the building kind of exploded. It's a fun building to play in when it gets like that."
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