Wins are starting to become scarce for the Buffalo Sabres and they’ll be looking for one tonight against Nashville.
This will be the only meeting between these two teams during the regular season.
The Sabres have dropped five of their past six games, but do have something going for them on the road. Buffalo still have the best road record in the league (along with San Jose) at 7-3.
The Predators sit in 10th place in the Western Conference and are 4-3-3 on home ice.
If the Sabres want to score goals, they are going to have to beat Pekka Rinne, which they have had a tough time doing in the past.
Rinne has made two career starts against Buffalo and allowed a total of one goal. In those games, he has stopped 71 of 72 shots.
At the other end, Ryan Miller will likely get the start in net. During his absence, the Sabres have gone 3-5-1 and are desperately searching for wins.
“We’ve got to win a game, that’s the bottom line,” Vanek said. “We’ve got to make a run here.”
One player the Sabres need to keep an eye on is Craig Smith. Not many people have heard of this guy, but he is a talented rookie who leads Nashville with 20 points (7 G, 13 A).
Tonight’s faceoff is set for 8 p.m. EST.