betprepare.com

Big troubles for Buffalo

Offense crisis isn't the only problem for the Sabres, having one goal per game. They have a lot of problems with the offense, and the cream on top is Miller's injury - he was their only hope in order to get a good score

Bufalo still don't know what a win is. After holding rather well in the first two games against Detroit 1-2, and Ottawa 0-1, they relented and lost against Penguins 4-1. A weak game and an absence of the goalie Miller were the reason why. They only directed 21 shot to the Pens goal, which is not enough to seriously pose a threat to a serious team like that one. The only thing they can be happy about is that their captain, and also the best player, Thomas Vanek finally scored this season's goal and perhaps announced better days for Buffalo. 

- We are limited with our offense chances, it's the same story from one game to the other. We keep scoring one goal, which is definitely not enough - Sabres' coach Hodgson said.

We have the same defense problems from the beginning of the season, so instead of the Zadorov, an important reinforcement to the team, who's been injured, a younger Ristolainen is playing. Even bigger problems could be caused by defenseman Henrik Tallinder's injury, who'll be absent in this game. The forwards Armie and Tropp are still gone, and they aren't coming back to the line up any time soon.

The greatest handicap is the injury of the excellent goalie Miller. The first two games he played, he showed how much he means for the team, with receiving only two goals and stopping at 96% of saves, which is amazing. If the team was more focused in the offense, they could easily use his good day and grab a point or two in the first two games. Unfortunately for them, they didn't, and now they have to fight the powerful Tampa, which will be quite a task without the aforementioned forwards and Miller. 

Tampa had an extremely difficult schedule in the first two games. They played the last year's finalists Boston and Chicago as guests. After a defeat in Boston, which is hard to grasp, where they received two shorthand plays and lost 3-1, they defeated Chicago. It was unbelievable because Chicago lead 2-0 at the end of the second period, and Tampa only had 6 shots directed at the goal, against Chicago's 25. In only two minutes St.Louis and Purcell scored two goals and lead the team to the roulette of penalty shots. They were better and won their first points. The goalie Bishop was a hero, saving the amazing 39 shots from Chicago.

-We used our goalie's great day in an excellent way. We decreased the score to 2-1 and used the powerplay to get the things back to start - Tampa coach Jon Cooper said.

The first two games were extremely difficult for Tampa team because both Chicago and Boston play an excellent defense, which is hard to go through. Their offense couldn't show what they've go because those were some difficult away games. It's never easy to win against the team who played the finals. Tonight, we should see a different Tampa in a game where they shouldn't be inferior, but pull the reins. If they want points, they will have to take advantage of the powerplay, even though it wasn't their strongest weapon in the previous years. Even though he didn't score yet, Stamkos' game is excellent, and as usual, he and Marty St.Louis get along just fine. It's just a question of when the duo will start their reign of terror against the opponents'defense. 

There aren't any important absences so far, except for the defensemen Ohlund and Lee. They're not that important, and they've been missing for a while anyway. 

I think this should be an easy margin for Tampa. They didn't go over it in the first two games, but Boston and Chicago are a lot tougher than Buffalo. Especially taking into account the problems the Buffalo team is facing. They are missing their goalie Miller, who saved them from disasters in the first two games against Detroit and Ottawa. He had 34 saves against Detroit and an impressive 45 against Ottawa. The Sabres allow plenty of shots as they have other problems in defense too, aside from Miller's absence. This season's signing Zadorov is injured, his substitute is young Ristolainen who has no NHL experience, and important defenseman Henrik Tallinder will be unavailable for this game as well. They won't have an easy time, as they are facing Steven Stamkos, Marty St Louis and big signing Valteri Filppula. Stamkos and St Louis had the most points in the league after the regular period last season, which speaks volumes of their quality. Stamkos has yet to score this season, but he's been great in other ways so far, and it's just a question of time when this team starts to terrorize opponents' defenses. An ideal opportunity for that moment to come is Buffalo.