There's not a Sabres fan that I know of that would want the team to go into Fan Appreciation Weekend with the possibility of Arizona finishing behind Buffalo in the standings. The Sabres would need to snare five of a possible six points and the Coyotes would need to lose out for the Sabres to finish 29th. The odds of that happening are slim to none but Buffalo fans know all to well that anything's possible.
As the 2014-15 is coming to a close, fans can't help but feel that there's been enough anguish especially over the course of the last three months or so. Regardless of all that, the job is not finished.
This is a very winnable game for Buffalo versus the Carolina Hurricanes and one that could give fans heartburn. The season series is split 1-1 right now and it should be noted that the Canes are sporting a 11-24-3 road record and are presently on a three-game losing streak. Yet, for their part, the Sabres haven't won consecutive home games vs. Carolina since a five-game streak from 10-20-2006 to 1-17-2009.
Anders Lindback will be in net for Buffalo with Andrey Makarov serving as back-up. There was a time when Sabres fans thought Lindback would single-handedly take this team to the promised land but, much to the dismay of Sabreland he's been stellar between the pipes. Don't let his 3-6-2 record with Buffalo fool you. Since donning the Blue and Gold he has a 2.77 gaa and a .921 sv%.
"Our time is the future," is a line GM Tim Murray has used more than once and while discussing the future, but in terms of next year, the question is, how much of a chance does head coach Ted Nolan have of returning?
With the Sabres beginning the build in earnest, the coach responsible for laying a foundation based upon hard work, compete-level and accountability may not be there for the framing. Nolan was asked about it and had said that there have been no talks between him and Murray. "I signed a three-year deal last year," Nolan said. "so we'll see what happens."
The progress of the youngins should be a deterimining factor.
Johan Larsson has shown the most improvement since the beginning of the season. From November to February he appeared in 20 games registering one goal and 2 assists. From March to present he has four goals and 11 points in 16 games.
Rasmus Ristolainen has shown marked improvement and is starting to hit the score sheet. He has seven points in his last five games and in a sure sign that he's ready to take on a top-pairing role for the team he has not logged under 20 minutes of ice-time since February 24 at Columbus, a span of 17 games.
Other positives are veterans Tyler Ennis and Mike Weber both have played very well and have shown progress in their games. Marcus Foligno is playing his best hockey since he took the team by storm three years ago. Bottom-six forward Nick Deslauriers has looked real strong as well.
On the downside is Cody Hodgson who is coming off of a 20-goal season last year but has only lit the lamp six times this season. He's been in the bottom-six almost all season and has had minimal time on the powerplay.
What it comes down to, though, is three more games. The number 50 is nice and round and the Sabres next loss will be their 50th of the season which will represent the loss that secures 30th place and the end of a rough season.
A couple of notes:
--Sabres d-man Mike Weber will have season-ending surgery later this week.
--From Boston Univeristy's Jack Eichel, the consensus 2nd-overall pick in the draft, "Ihave a friend that was at the [Arizona] game and I got a text message saying the Buffalo fans were cheering when they lost. It's kind of a bizarre thing to think about--that fans are cheering against their team, hoping that they lose. But I guess really, they're just excited about the future." (thx, Mike Harrington.)
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