Ottawa, Ont. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres certainly weren’t ready to play on Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks, but they get a second chance on Wednesday in Ottawa against the Senators.
One of the NHL’s worst teams made the Sabres look absolutely silly on Tuesday. After the game, head coach Don Granato was as angry as I’ve seen him, and as far as Wednesday goes, he made it easy.
“We need to be direct, simple and hard,” said Granato.
Buffalo is on a six-game losing streak, so it’s mind-blowing that they took Vancouver lightly and weren’t ready to go.
There were maybe five players that were ready to play for Buffalo. Alex Tuch had a goal and two assists, Jeff Skinner had two goals, and Tage Thompson had two assists. Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power also both played hard throughout the game.
Career minor league goalie Spencer Martin had an easy night for Vancouver until the third period when the Sabres finally decided to get pucks and bodies to the net.
Thompson now has points in five-straight games ,and has scored 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points in nine games. Thompson is 10th in league scoring with 21 points in 16 games.
Eric Comrie will be in goal for Buffalo on Wednesday. He’s lost his last three starts, giving up 13 goals. Overall this year, he’s 4-6-0 with a 3.62 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.
After giving up two power play goals to the Canucks, the Sabres are now 29th in the league in penalty killing.
Buffalo and Ottawa have similar problems defensively this season. The Senators are 24th in the NHL with a goals-against average of 3.53, while the Sabres are 25th with an average of 3.56 goals-against per-game.
The Sabres opened the season with a 4-1 victory over the Sens back on Oct. 13. Things haven’t been going much better for Ottawa lately, as the Senators have lost eight out of nine games. Their only win during that time came in Philadelphia against the Flyers.
Anton Forsberg will be in goal for the Senators. He’s 3-6-1 this season with a 3.60 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage.
Captain Brady Tkachuk leads his team in scoring with six goals and 14 assists for 20 points in 15 games.
Ottawa has been hit hard by injuries, as defenseman Thomas Chabot is missing his second game, while forward Josh Norris has a long-term injury.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when they’ll be joined by Granato and two players.
