Hockey_Madness16
08-17-2011, 02:20 PM
(02) Minnesota Wild vs. Buffalo Sabres (04)
HockeyMadness vs. Birdman
Previous Match-Up
Game # 71
Minnesota Wild-[2] @ [7]-Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres were the first team to defeat the visiting Minnesota Wild in a dominant fashion, to halt their six-game winning streak. The Wild are notoriously known for leading the league in PIM and the Sabres took advantage of it. As the Wild accounted for 15 PIM, the Sabres cashed in on the power play 5 times out of the 7 goals scored. They got scoring from everyone, including a two-goal night by Derek Roy (8-13-21). The Wild scored a power play goal by Martin Havlat (13-11-24) and added a shorthanded goal by Mikko Koivu (15-21-36).
The Wild were really hoping not to face these Sabres until deeper in the playoffs but now that they are here, it’s time for them to face their fears. The Wild made quick work of the Red Wings in the first round as they outscored their opponent 8-4. However, the Wild seem to be following a certain pattern that has overlapped into the playoffs from the regular season: struggling as the ‘away’ team. The Wild have dominated opponents on home-ice with a record of 12-0-1 and outscoring those opponents 65-25. But as the visiting team, their record still stands strong at 9-0-2 but they have not been their usual dominant selves as they outscored opponents 38-28. Same held true in the first round, they won in a dominant fashion with a 5-2 score at home in game one. However, while visiting Detroit in game two, they were kept on their heels by the Red Wings for most of the game as the score was a close 3-2 win for the Wid.
The Sabres are not so different than the Wild, especially with the way they like to play at home versus playing as the visiting team. Against the Kings in the first round, the won with a 4-0 shutout in game one and then followed up with a 4-2 win as the visiting team in game two. Though the difference might not be as drastic as the Wild from game one to game two, it’s still something to note. Let’s take a look at their regular season numbers: As the home team, the Sabres had a 10-0-2 record while outscoring their opponents 46-16. As the visiting team, they were 9-0-3, which is still a really good record, but outscoring opponents 35-20. Again, the difference is not as extreme as the Wild’s, however they need to punch up their scoring as the visiting team if they want to compete with the Wild on their home-ice. The Sabres currently sit 2nd in the league for “Least Goals Against” in the playoffs while also sitting in a 4th-place tie for “Most Goals For”.
The key here for both teams winning, is to take advantage of home-ice. The Wild definitely do not want to step foot in HSBC Arena to face the Sabres because of their last 7-2 loss in that building. The Wild have only been defeated once in their building out of the 14 games played there and with 2 home games in this series, the Wild have to come out strong in game one to take a hold of this series early. Same goes for the Sabres: they need to stop the Wild’s attack in their building and pull out a win to bring the series back to Buffalo and finish off the series. While both teams have a strong attack, the Sabres ranked second in the regular season for “Least Goals Against” with an astonishing 1.46 GAA. The Minnesota Wild ranked second in the regular season for “Most Goals For” with another mind-boggling stat of 4.29 GFA. If either team wants to win, they’ll need to use their strengths against the other and take the very-pivotal game one. Even though there’s always a game three, no series in the first round so far has reached to that tie-breaking game.
"Our team is ready this time for the Sabres", said Coach HockeyMadness of the Wild. "We were on a 6-game winning streak last time we faced them and we had to lose eventually to get that monkey off our back, but now we're ready".
PROJECTED PREDICTION:
SABRES IN 3
GOOD LUCK TO BOTH TEAMS!
HockeyMadness vs. Birdman
Previous Match-Up
Game # 71
Minnesota Wild-[2] @ [7]-Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres were the first team to defeat the visiting Minnesota Wild in a dominant fashion, to halt their six-game winning streak. The Wild are notoriously known for leading the league in PIM and the Sabres took advantage of it. As the Wild accounted for 15 PIM, the Sabres cashed in on the power play 5 times out of the 7 goals scored. They got scoring from everyone, including a two-goal night by Derek Roy (8-13-21). The Wild scored a power play goal by Martin Havlat (13-11-24) and added a shorthanded goal by Mikko Koivu (15-21-36).
The Wild were really hoping not to face these Sabres until deeper in the playoffs but now that they are here, it’s time for them to face their fears. The Wild made quick work of the Red Wings in the first round as they outscored their opponent 8-4. However, the Wild seem to be following a certain pattern that has overlapped into the playoffs from the regular season: struggling as the ‘away’ team. The Wild have dominated opponents on home-ice with a record of 12-0-1 and outscoring those opponents 65-25. But as the visiting team, their record still stands strong at 9-0-2 but they have not been their usual dominant selves as they outscored opponents 38-28. Same held true in the first round, they won in a dominant fashion with a 5-2 score at home in game one. However, while visiting Detroit in game two, they were kept on their heels by the Red Wings for most of the game as the score was a close 3-2 win for the Wid.
The Sabres are not so different than the Wild, especially with the way they like to play at home versus playing as the visiting team. Against the Kings in the first round, the won with a 4-0 shutout in game one and then followed up with a 4-2 win as the visiting team in game two. Though the difference might not be as drastic as the Wild from game one to game two, it’s still something to note. Let’s take a look at their regular season numbers: As the home team, the Sabres had a 10-0-2 record while outscoring their opponents 46-16. As the visiting team, they were 9-0-3, which is still a really good record, but outscoring opponents 35-20. Again, the difference is not as extreme as the Wild’s, however they need to punch up their scoring as the visiting team if they want to compete with the Wild on their home-ice. The Sabres currently sit 2nd in the league for “Least Goals Against” in the playoffs while also sitting in a 4th-place tie for “Most Goals For”.
The key here for both teams winning, is to take advantage of home-ice. The Wild definitely do not want to step foot in HSBC Arena to face the Sabres because of their last 7-2 loss in that building. The Wild have only been defeated once in their building out of the 14 games played there and with 2 home games in this series, the Wild have to come out strong in game one to take a hold of this series early. Same goes for the Sabres: they need to stop the Wild’s attack in their building and pull out a win to bring the series back to Buffalo and finish off the series. While both teams have a strong attack, the Sabres ranked second in the regular season for “Least Goals Against” with an astonishing 1.46 GAA. The Minnesota Wild ranked second in the regular season for “Most Goals For” with another mind-boggling stat of 4.29 GFA. If either team wants to win, they’ll need to use their strengths against the other and take the very-pivotal game one. Even though there’s always a game three, no series in the first round so far has reached to that tie-breaking game.
"Our team is ready this time for the Sabres", said Coach HockeyMadness of the Wild. "We were on a 6-game winning streak last time we faced them and we had to lose eventually to get that monkey off our back, but now we're ready".
PROJECTED PREDICTION:
SABRES IN 3
GOOD LUCK TO BOTH TEAMS!