Nucks vs Sabres Summary

[goalnut3133]

Thought this was a good sum-up of these 2 teams facing each other tonight & what we might expect. I still think we're gonna lose tonite, far too soon to know if Kesler is on the uprise yet from his invisible presence on the ice up until the last game with the Flyers (1 goal being an empty-netter, give me a break!).  And Miller has been a beast in net of late.  I'm not exactly holding my breath here. The Sabres are also 4-1-0 in their last 5 games against us and this is gonna be in their territory tonite. 

 

An interesting note: Hodgson faces his old team & may have been some bad blood there when he left the Nucks.  Kassian faces his old team...let's see what he brings tonite.

 

http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/preview?id=2013020096&cmpid=nhl-twt

 

CANUCKS (4-3-0) at SABRES (1-6-1)

 

TV: SNET-P, MSG-B, BELL TV

 

Season series: This is the first of two meetings this season. The Buffalo Sabres are 4-1-0 in their last five games against the Vancouver Canucks and will try to make it three wins in a row over the Western Conference club.

 

Big story: Buffalo finally got its first win of the season Tuesday at the New York Islanders and seeks to keep its recent dominance over the Canucks going Thursday. Vancouver can establish a three-game road winning streak with a victory at the Sabres.

 

Team Scope:

 

Canucks: Vancouver has experienced a bit of a cold streak recently with losses in two of its last three games while averaging just 1.66 goals-for over that span. A 3-2 road win Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers has the potential to provide a much-needed spark as the Canucks continue a seven-game road trip, their longest of the season.

 

Coach John Tortorella executed an unconventional move in Philadelphia by placing twin forwards Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin on separate lines midway through the third period in an attempt to jump start the struggling offense. Henrik centered for Chris Higgins and Ryan Kesler, and those two scored the game-tying and game-winning goals, respectively.

 

"Listen, [the twins] play really well together, and it's very tough to split them up, but I think at times that's going to happen," Tortorella told NHL.com. "I think as you go through the game, those are calls we'll make, but it's awful tough to keep them away from one another because they play so very well together."

 

Sabres: Buffalo might not have many points in the standings, but it's been involved in six one-goal decisions out of its first nine games. The team's ability to stay close can be attributed to the stellar play of goaltender Ryan Miller, who has faced 40 or more shots three times already. Miller was solid again Tuesday with 41 saves against the Islanders through regulation and overtime. He stopped two of three attempts in the shootout to earn his first win of the season.

 

"It gives us a chance to feel good for a little while and see if we can build. The key now is to build,” Miller said.

 

Who's hot: Henrik Sedin has been held scoreless just once this season. He's registered a goal and eight assists over seven games. … For Buffalo, center Cody Hodgson has at least a point in six of his last seven games, totaling one goal and five assists over that span.

 

Injury report: Forward Alexandre Burrows is out with a lower-body injury for Vancouver, while defenseman Alexander Edler will serve the last of his three-game suspension Thursday for an elbowing incident Oct. 10 against the San Jose Sharks. … For the Sabres, forward Zemgus Girgensons left Tuesday's game after taking a puck in the face in the first period; he didn't return and is questionable. Forward Patrick Kaleta was assessed a 10-game suspension by the NHL on Tuesday for a hit against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 10 and is eligible to return Nov. 7, having already served two games while awaiting the disciplinary hearing. Defenseman Nikita Zadorov has not played a game this season and is questionable with a hand injury. Forwards Ville Leino (ribs) and Corey Tropp (jaw) remain out indefinitely.

 

TEAM STATS

               GP RECORD HOME AWAY L10 G/G GA/G PP% PK% PIM/G S/G S/A FO%

Canucks 7 4-3-0 2-2-0 2-1-0 4-3-0 2.86 3.14 10.0 91.3 9.9 31.0 29.4 51.1

Sabres    8 1-6-1 0-3-1 1-3-0 1-6-1 1.25 2.62 10.3 84.6 12.2 26.5 35.8 45.1

 

 

 

 

[goalnut3133]

Looks like Torts is splitting up the twins again tonite (like he did in Philly)...Hank with the Kesler line...Dank with the Santorelli line....which I think is pure genius,, & something Vigneault NEVER liked doing....so far Torts has done this twice (the other time vs the Flames) & in all instances, those split lines have scored & almost bang off the start of shift.....should be cool to see how that works out tonite against Sabres & the strong offense of Hodgson, et al.

[yave1964]

@goalnut3133

When you mentioned Torts breaking up the sisters (sorry, channeling my inner Dave Bolland) it blew my mind. it takes a strong coach to try something like that. it makes sense really but a gutsy call.

[goalnut3133]

@yave1964  (Hahaha...that's ok, I call them the sisters too! ) Yah it is gutsy, but I think Torts started trying it more out of frustration & some desperation in the earlier games when nothing seemed to be working. And then lo & behold!  Tonite we played well for the most part too, but it was not exactly our toughest match...Sabres almost looked dejected from the get-go & sometimes they just looked to me like they were moving through quicksand...particularly since the Nucks had some pep in their step tonite. First full game I've seen of the Sabres but wow, just a lot of holes in their play. And also just some bad luck. Vanek's nifty top roofer hit the bar, then the post, & skidded exactly along the goal line, missing Lu's skates by inches before eking out the other side. If it weren't for Miller, it could've been a Shark-nado-esque pounding tonite for BUF. 

 

The split twin lines didn't directly result in goals this time, but the juggling is still working the right chemistry, something is definitely going right. And that Santorelli guy...geeze...he's just grabbing points every single game...2 assists tonite. And our new D- Stanton got his 1st goal tonite, courtesy of a Hank'n'Dank combo assist. It was also good to finally see Kassian step up a bit tonite with some pretty good passing, nearly making an assist & also slapping some shots on net & nearly scoring. Hopefully, he will get better as the season progresses under Tort's system. I guess I won't give up on him just yet!