Today, the Sabres continue their West Coast swing in Colorado where they will close out the season series against the Avalanche. Matt Duchene’s game-winning goal helped Colorado win the first game in October by a 4-2 score, and that game was in Buffalo.
The Sabres are coming off a 3-2 victory over the Coyotes, but are only 3-4-3 in the past 10.
“Sometimes when we have a lead, we panic a little bit. Tonight, we still panicked a bit, but not as much. I think the more experience we have going through games like this … experience is a great teacher,” coach Ted Nolan said after the game. “They didn’t panic as much and we held on and obviously Miller made some big, big saves.”
Buffalo have won two consecutive games just twice this season, but will look to do it a third time with a win today. If they do that, they’ll have to find a way to win without forward Matt Moulson, who left last game with an injury.
Ryan Miller is expected to be between the pipes and has been playing well as of late. In the past two games, he’s stopped 67 of 71 shots and has kept his team in both of those games.
As for Colorado, they have been heating up as they are 7-2-1 in their last 10 overall. They are coming off a 35 save performance from Semyon Varlamov and a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
“We have picked up nine points out of a possible 10 [against Minnesota], which is something great,” coach Patrick Roy said after the game. “We had to play well against these guys and that’s what we’ve done all year.”
The Sabres know this won’t be an easy game, but the Avalanche are expecting the Sabres to compete, despite where they are in the standings.
“It’s important for us to be ready against Buffalo. They just beat Phoenix, 3-2. There’s no easy win now in the NHL,” he said.
Today’s game is scheduled for 3 p.m. and is can be seen on MSG.