Coyotes and Sabres meeting in high stakes draft tanking battles

source : si.com

Off The Draw

Under different circumstances, games between the Coyotes and Sabres would be an afterthought on a schedule that features compelling playoff races.

Buffalo and Arizona, after all, are a pair of terrible hockey teams. Cellar dwellers in their respective conferences, they offer little competitive intrigue as opponents

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But circumstances being what they are, their two meetings promise to be closely watched contests. What’s at stake here is not the points to be gained but the ground to be given up in the standings. The Sabres' 4–3 loss in OT on Thursday night brought the beleaguered franchise a step closer to stuffing the greatest possible number of draft lottery balls into the hopper on April 18. And that means a greater opportunity to transform its future by landing Connor McDavid, the player who is regarded as being the best draft prospect since Sidney Crosby.

No surprise that the crowd at Buffalo’s First Niagara Center was fiercely pro-Coyotes.

The Sabres, who enter the weekend holding the league’s basement apartment with 48 points, have eight games left on their schedule. The Coyotes are six points ahead of them. Arizona had lost eight straight games, and 18 of its last 19, before stunning the Red Wings in overtime on Tuesday night. 

The Yotes have seven games remaining.

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Buffalo’s loss, had it been in regulation, might have sealed the deal. Arizona probably needed to lose on Thursday and in next Monday’s rematch in Glendale to make the race interesting.

Not that it’s a race the NHL wants to see run. Despite (or perhaps because of) all the attention it is generating, tonight’s Tank Bowl is bad for business. In fact, tanking to secure a better draft position became such a concern that the NHL felt compelled to dramatically alter its lottery rules ahead of this season. Under those revisions, the league’s worst team now has only a 20% chance of landing the top pick.

But for this year anyway (the rules will change again next summer) that team can drop no lower than the second selection, which means it is guaranteed to land either McDavid or Jack Eichel, the Boston University star who could turn out to be the best consolation prize since Evgeni Malkin went second behind Alex Ovechkin back in 2004.

The team that finishes 29th could land the second pick, but it has a 67% chance of dropping to third and missing out on both players.

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All that said, these games won’t be a farce of turnovers, ignored defensive assignments, sloppy goaltending—though on Thursday the Sabres countered Arizona's Mike Smith (left, photo above) with Matt Hackett (right) and his .893 save percentage instead of Anders Lindback who would weigh in at .926 since arriving in Buffalo via a February trade) and comically blown offensive chances ... at least, no more than normal for these two clubs. In fact, it could end up being a thriller. 

Because while these organizations might be thinking of the future, the players on the ice are only worried about the present. Their honor is on the line tonight. They don’t want to be embarrassed. They’re sick of losing. And no one wants to be seen as the guy who can be jettisoned to make room for McDavid next season.

And they might even be aware of this noteworthy fact: In each of the past three seasons, the team that finished 29th has won the lottery.

Maybe a win will be a win after all.

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Sabres get first home win of season with rare victory over Red Wings

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres began a four-game homestand with their first win in front of their home fans.

Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons scored shootout goals, and the Sabres edged the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak.

Michal Neuvirth made 36 saves and stopped Henrik Zetterberg in the third round of the shootout to help the Sabres (3-9-1) win in Buffalo after five straight home losses in which they were outscored 16-4.

"You hate losing more than you love winning," said Girgensons, who scored the winning goal. "Winning is awesome. It's a different feeling. It feels good. I just hope we can keep it going and improve."

Brian Flynn and Chris Stewart both scored their first goals of the season, and Tyson Strachan had two assists for Buffalo, which beat Detroit for the first time since Oct. 13, 2009.

"We had a rough October and we weathered the storm," Stewart said. "We're going to learn a lot more about what this team is about in November."

The Sabres were coming off a 5-0 loss Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

"When a team plays the night before, you should jump all over them from start to finish," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "We had the puck all night. We had lots of opportunities, just didn't finish."

Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist, Tomas Tatar also scored, and Jimmy Howard made 19 saves for Detroit (6-3-2), which had won two in a row before starting a stretch of three games in four nights in four cities.

The Red Wings outshot the Sabres 17-8 in the third period and 4-0 in overtime. Detroit went 0-for-4 on the power play, including one in overtime.

"It was a sloppy game," Tatar said. "But we have to find our way to win these kinds of games. We had a power play in overtime. We have to score one of those."

The Red Wings appeared to net the winning goal at 2:28 of overtime on Zetterberg's slap shot but the goal was disallowed when officials ruled Johan Franzen had established position in the crease.

"I was talking to the ref a couple times during the game," Neuvirth said. "He told me, 'I know he's standing in the crease, so whenever they're going to score a goal, I'm going to disallow it.' I was glad
he actually did it."

Babcock didn't dispute the call.

"We were in the crease," he said.
Stewart tied it 2-2 with 6:52 remaining in the third period, bouncing the puck in off Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith off a rebound. Ennis and Strachan earned assists.

Datsyuk put Detroit ahead 2-1 early in the third period, finishing a 3-on-2 rush with Justin Abdelkader and Smith with a short wrist shot tucked inside the left post.
Datsyuk has earned a point in all six games since returning from a separated shoulder. He has five goals and five assists this season.

Detroit held the puck for nearly two minutes before Tatar's wrist shot from the left circle went through the legs of Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges and past Neuvirth to make it 1-1 with 7:05 remaining in the second period. Riley Sheahan and Datsyuk assisted on Tatar's third goal.

The Sabres scored first for just the fourth time in 13 games. Flynn gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead 6:55 into the second when he backhanded a loose puck in off the crossbar.

Game notes

Franzen returned to the lineup after missing six games with a groin injury. ... The Sabres recalled F Johan Larsson from AHL Rochester to replace the injured Marcus Foligno. Foligno got hurt in Saturday night's loss at Pittsburgh. ... Buffalo signed F Justin Bailey to a three-year, entry-level contract. Bailey, currently playing with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, was a second-round pick in 2013. ... Detroit will play at Ottawa on Tuesday and at the New York Rangers on Wednesday. Buffalo will host Montreal on Wednesday.

Canadiens vs Sabres : L'occasion de se reprendre

Source : Rds.ca

 Le Canadien tentera de corriger le faux pas de mardi alors qu'il recevra une deuxième fois cette semaine les Sabres de Buffalo. Ne manquez pas Hockey 360 dès 18 h 30 pour l'émission d'avant-match sur RDS.

Mardi, le Tricolore avait réussi à combler un retard de deux buts en troisième période avant de s'incliner 3-2 en prolongation grâce au deuxième but du match de Steve Ott lors d'un avantage numérique alors que le défenseur P.K. Subban était au cachot.

Montréal (20-5-5) n'a perdu qu'une seule fois à ses 19 derniers matchs en temps réglementaire. Les hommes de Michel Therrien ont rebondi jeudi avec un gain de 5-2 sur les Islanders de New York. Le Tricolore a un dossier de 6-0-1 depuis un revers de 6-3 devant les Islanders, le 5 mars.

Ryan White sera absent en raison d'une blessure. Le Canadien a annoncé vendredi le rappel de Michael Blunden des Bulldogs de Hamilton en plus de réclamer le vétéran Jeff Halpern au ballottage.

Carey Price sera devant la cage du Canadien qui a une avance de deux points sur les Bruins de Boston au sommet de la division nord-est.

Le Canadien tirait de l'arrière 2-1 devant les Islanders quand Subban a créé l'égalité. Le défenseur a terminé la partie avec deux buts. Pour sa part, Michael Ryder a amassé un dixième point en dix parties depuis qu'il s'est joint au Canadien le mois dernier.

Subban a compté six de ses neuf buts à ses dix derniers matchs, mais il n'a trouvé le fond du filet qu'une seule fois en 15 parties contre les Sabres.

Price a conservé une moyenne de buts alloués de 2,29 en remportant cinq de ses six derniers matchs, mais il a accordé trois buts aux Sabres dans trois de ses quatre derniers matchs contre eux.

Buffalo (12-15-4) a un dossier de 6-5-3 depuis que Ron Rolston a remplacé Lindy Ruff, le 20 février dernier.

Avoir la mémoire courte

Source : Rds.ca

Les Sabres ont encore sur le cœur la douloureuse défaite de 6-1, samedi dernier, au Centre Bell et ils voudront offrir une meilleure performance devant leurs partisans alors que le Canadien disputera un deuxième match en deux soirs, jeudi. Cette rencontre sera diffusée à RDS dès 19 h avec l’avant-match de Hockey 360 à 18 h 30.

 

Le Tricolore l’avait facilement emporté à Montréal et les joueurs du CH doivent s’attendre à un meilleur effort de la part de leurs adversaires cette fois-ci.

 

Les Sabres doivent profiter d’une équipe qui a disputé un match intense mercredi contre un autre rival de division, les Bruins de Boston. En effet, le Canadien a distribué 31 mises en échec contre la formation qui est en première position dans l’Est. La troupe de Michel Therrien a tiré de l’arrière pendant la majorité du troisième vingt et a dû jouer du hockey de rattrapage.

 

Néanmoins, Buffalo en arrache depuis le début de la campagne. La troupe de Lindy Ruff montre une fiche de 3-6-1. Elle a perdu ses trois dernières rencontres étant dominée 14-7 au chapitre des buts.

 

Si le jeu défensif des Sabres connaît des lacunes, l’attaque fait quand même bien, surtout le premier trio. Thomas Vanek trône toujours au sommet des pointeurs de la LNH avec ses 19 points, tandis que ses compagnons de trio Jason Pominville (14 points) et Cody Hodgson (10 points) font très bien également. Vanek avait été le seul à déjouer Carey Price lors du premier affrontement.

 

Ryan Miller devra faire mieux que samedi dernier. Il avait été retiré de la rencontre après avoir alloué quatre buts sur 21 lancers. Price avait repoussé 31 rondelles dans la victoire.

 

Le Canadien a pris l’avion en direction de Buffalo à la suite de sa défaite contre les Bruins. Malgré la courte durée du vol, il s’agit du premier match en deux soirs où le CH doit prendre l’avion. Lors des deux premiers « deux parties en deux soirs », il avait disputé ses deuxièmes rencontres à Ottawa et à Montréal.