Montreal Canadiens face Buffalo Sabres with the former having an upper hand – NHL Preview
Both the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres are capable of reaching the playoffs, but their own respective performances have hampered the progress.
It would be interesting to see Montreal and Buffalo facing off in a National Hockey League (NHL) game on Friday, February 17, 2012, at First Niagara Center, Buffalo, New York.
Let’s take a look at the performance of both these teams.
Canadiens
The visiting Canadiens are placed at 13th spot in the Eastern Conference with 56 points after 58 games.
Currently on a two-game losing streak, Montreal’s unpredictability is not hidden from anyone.
They will lose even being rated as favourites and register a victory when considered an underdog and that too without providing any rational reason.
Before the current defeats, the Canadiens won four straight games and brightened their chances of securing a place among the top eight teams of the conference.
However, they have once again damaged their prospects. Their last defeat came against Boston Bruins after a very close encounter.
Bruins took the lead in the first period and built on it in the next, but Montreal managed two goals in the final period to force the game to overtime, which also went goalless.
In shootout, Bruins scored the only goal of the session and got the victory.
Montreal’s winger, Mathieu Darche, said after the loss:
“It’s unfortunate that because of that Carolina game, now we’ve lost two in a row and we’re not where we could be. I think the last two weeks we’ve played the way we should have all year, and if we would have done that I don’t think we’d be in this situation.”
Sabres
If this matchup was scheduled for last week, there would have been no hesitation in picking Sabres as winners, but that is not the case now.
Buffalo showed an impressive surge after winning three straight games last week, but it lost three straight after the victories.
The defeats came against Tampa Bay Lightning (2-1), New Jersey Devils (4-1) and most recently and the most humiliating against Philadelphia Flyers (7-2).
Flyers were two goals down after the first period and they ended up scoring seven in the next two.
Sabres’ winger, Jason Pominville, said after the game:
“This time of year, it’s unacceptable to get a lead like that and blow it. In the first, we had control, we generated chances and didn’t give up much. Then the momentum changed sides. That’s when you have to lock in and play better.”
The Sabres are ranked just below the Canadiens with 54 points after 57 games.
Predictions
Canadiens will win.
The goal difference will be more than two.
The sum of goals scored by both the teams will stay under six.
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