NHL Preview Roundup: Buffalo Sabres vs New Jersey Devils, Winnipeg Jets vs New York Rangers
Buffalo at New Jersey (7.00 p.m. ET)
New Jersey Devils’ impressive record this month was marred by two straight defeats lately, but they do have a chance to get back on the winning ways as they are going to host Buffalo Sabres in a National Hockey League (NHL) game on Tuesday, January 24, 2012,
at the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey.
The Sabres are on a five-game losing streak and have lost eight of their last nine games. They are ranked at the bottom of the NHL Eastern Conference with 43 points after 48 games.
Their recent loss came against St. Louis Blues (4-2) in which the Sabres scored a goal in the first period, but failed to mark any memorable impression later.
The Devils, however, are a much better side than the Sabres, but the morale of the players is certainly down after the recent defeats.
They lost against Boston Bruins (4-1) on Thursday and later surrendered against Philadelphia Flyers (4-1) on Saturday.
After the games in which the net remained unprotected while the offence struggled to score goals, the Devils have much to work on before they play the Sabres.
"It's all about competing about top teams and we didn't fare too well against top teams in our conference," Devils’ goaltender Martin Brodeur remarked. "Now we're challenging ourselves to gain ground on the teams that are close to us, or below us. We got
to win these games at least if we can't beat the teams on top."
The Devils are ranked at seventh spot in the NHL Eastern Conference with 54 points after playing 47 games.
Winnipeg at NY Rangers (7.00 p.m. ET)
With 64 points after playing 46 games, New York Rangers are leading the NHL Eastern Conference.
This fact is really appealing for the Rangers’ fans, but it only adds to the worries of the Winnipeg Jets, who are going to face the Rangers on Tuesday at the Madison Square Garden, New York.
The Jets, currently on a two-game losing streak, are ranked at the 10th spot in the same conference and have 50 points after playing 49 games.
The confident Rangers have lost three out of their last six games, but they are not bothered by the defeats. Their coach, John Tortorella, thinks that there is nothing to worry about as long as the team is playing well.
"We don't care about first place, the division, the conference," he said. "We are just trying to play the right way."
The Rangers defeated Boston Bruins (3-2) in overtime on Saturday, while the Jets were handed a defeat (2-1) by Carolina Hurricanes.
The Jets allowed two goals in the first period before scoring their first in the second. However, they could not move forward and spent the rest of the game without any goal.
As they prepare to play the Rangers on the latter’s home-ice, the task of snapping the losing streak is not going to be an easy one.
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