Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Divisional Round
The Buffalo Sabres face the Dallas Stars with both teams looking to build off of strong seasons. The Sabres have a 23-19-3 record and with back-to-back wins have leaped into the middle of the Eastern Conference. The Stars have a 28-13-7 record and with two wins in a row are in first place in the Central Division. The Sabres look to continue to make up ground in the Eastern Conference while the Stars hope to remain near the top of the Western Conference and the upcoming game looks to be a great one as a result.
The Sabres are having a strong season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.80 goals per game with nine goals in the last two games. Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, and Jeff Skinner have scored 73 goals and 83 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the unit has also stepped up. Dylan Cozens, Victor Olofsson, and Casey Mittelstadt have combined for 44 goals and 52 assists while defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power have added 13 goals and 55 assists to put the offense over the top.
The offense has been great but the defense has been awful, allowing 3.44 goals per game. Dahlin and Power have combined for 5.2 defensive point shares but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. In addition, goaltender Eric Comrie has struggled with a .883 save percentage and a 3.67 goals-against average on 358 shots.