It’s been a rough week for the Sabres, a team that dropped a pair of losses on consecutive nights with a National viewing. That will be different tonight, though. The Sabres are back on their usual MSG network and are in Phoenix to take on the Coyotes.
This will be the 2nd and final matchup between the teams this season. Mark Pysyk scored the game-winning goal against the Coyotes in overtime earlier this season. That was the goal where Mike Smith skated into his own goal with the puck in his pants.
The Sabres have won just two of their last 10 games, but they’ve collected a point in four others by falling in overtime or a shootout. Buffalo has been making the games interesting, but they still aren’t winning very often.
“To control the third period the way we did, you’re happy at one point,” Nolan said. “But on the other side, there’s little parts of our game that we need to continue to work on and make corrections on. That was a big lesson learned in a bad situation.”
The Coyotes sit at 6th place in the Pacific Division and have been successful on home ice with a 15-8-3 record. However, the Sabres have won the last three contests and haven’t lost at Jobing.com Arena since 2008.
The league announced that the Phoenix Coyotes will be changing its’ name to the Arizona Coyotes at the beginning of next season, since they are based out of Glendale.
“We want to be recognized as not just the hockey team for Glendale or Phoenix, but the team for the entire state of Arizona and the Southwest,” LeBlanc said. “We hope that the name ‘Arizona’ will encourage more fans from all over the state, not just the valley, to embrace and support our team.”
The Coyotes are in the midst of a five game homestand, and tonight will mark game two. They won the first nothing by shutting out the Kings 3-0 with the help of Thomas Greiss, who is expected to start in goal for this one.
Tonight’s game is scheduled for 9 p.m. EST and can be seen on MSG.