(WGR 550) – If you think the Buffalo Sabres’ matinee game on Saturday afternoon against the Sharks in San Jose is going to be a cakewalk, you might want to think again.
The Sharks have won three-straight games and are 3-0-1 in their last four. San Jose is 4-2-1 in their last seven games, which has lifted them out of the NHL’s basement.
San Jose now has a points percentage of .313, while the Chicago Blackhawks are at .306. The Sabres aren’t much better at 27th with a points percentage of .479.
When the Sharks visited Buffalo on Jan. 15, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen recorded a 28-save 3-0 shutout.
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Buffalo has won three out of its last five games, six out of 10, seven out of 12 and gone 8-6-1 in its last 15 games. None of that is remotely good enough, as Buffalo is still nine points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
There is a big but to that, though.
If you take the standings from Dec. 21, where the Sabres have gone 8-6-1, they would be in the second Wild Card position with a points percentage of .567.
The Wild Card race, in this scenario, would look like this:
1.) Detroit - .656
2.) Buffalo - .567
3.) Toronto - .529
4.) Philadelphia - .472
5.) Ottawa - .471
6.) Rangers - .444
7.) Montreal - .441
8.) Columbus - .429
9.) Washington - .412
10.) Islanders - .375
The Sabres have only scored more than three goals in three of their last 14 games. That includes Wednesday night when they hung five on the Los Angeles Kings.
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JJ Peterka has three goals and five points in his last four games.
On the other side of that is Tage Thompson, who has no goals and one assist in his last six games. Thompson did play very well against the Kings, firing 13 shots towards the net.
Luukkonen has lost his last two starts, but he has still played some strong games. Overall, he’s 11-11-2 this season with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
Casey Mittelstadt still leads the Sabres in scoring with 40 points in 48 games. That would give him 68 points over 82 games, which would smash his career high of 59 points set last year.
Even though San Jose has been hot lately, they’re still a league-worst in goals-for (2.08), goals-against (3.90) and on the penalty kill (71.8%).
San Jose is going with Kaapo Kahkonen in net on Saturday. He’s 6-13-1 this season with a 3.56 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. He’s only played in three of their last 10 games, losing two of them.
Sharks captain Logan Couture has been back for three games after missing the whole season, up to that point, with an injury.
Tomas Hertl leads the Sharks in scoring with 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points in 47 games.
If the Sabres play like they did on Tuesday against the league’s third-worst team, the Anaheim Ducks, they will likely lose to the Sharks.
However, if they play like they did on Wednesday against the Kings, they should win the game.
Join Brian Koziol and myself at 3 p.m. EST for pregame coverage on WGR.
