Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
The Buffalo Sabres (20-18-2, 42 points, 5th Atlantic) are on the road to visit the Land of Opry on Sunday to play at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville against the Nashville Predators (19-16-6, 44 points, 5th Central). Buffalo was defeated by the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Thursday night and has lost three straight and four of the last six. Nashville lost its second straight when falling to the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Thursday. Prior to losing two straight, Nashville had won four in a row. Ben Bishop is out for Buffalo. Mark Borowiecki and Michael McCarron are out for Nashville, while Kevin Lankinen is questionable.
Buffalo is allowing an average of 3.48 goals per game which is 24th in the NHL. The Sabres are allowing an average of 33.0 shots per game. Buffalo's penalty kill unit is 28th, as the Sabres are successfully holding opponents scoreless only 72.9% of the time Buffalo is short-handed. Craig Anderson is 7-6-1 with a 2.70 goals against average and .921 save percentage, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is 9-4-1 with a 3.46 goals against average and .893 save percentage.
Buffalo is scoring its share of goals with an average of 3.83 goals per game which is first in the NHL. The Sabres are 12th in shots, averaging 32.3 per game and have the fifth best power play, scoring 27.5% of the time with the man advantage. Tage Thompson is the leading goal scorer for Buffalo with 31 and Alex Tuch is second with 20. The leader in assists is Rasmus Dahlin with 34 and Thompson is second with 26. Thompson is the points leader with 57 and Dahlin is second with 47. Buffalo has scored 41 goals on the power play in 40 games.