For whatever reason the Sharks seem to have a very tough time winning in Buffalo. Since joining the league in 1992 the Sharks are just 3-17 in Buffalo. This includes a 2-7 mark from 2007 through 2018, where the assembled Sharks rosters have been loaded. The 2019 version of the Sharks don't look quite as deadly on paper as years past with some new and young pieces. The adjustment period has been on display as the Sharks are off to a shaky start coming in with a 3-5 record and a 1-3 mark on the road. The Sharks started 0-4 before they rattled off 3 wins in a row, however some bad habits crept back into their game in a 4-3 loss at home on Saturday to these same Sabres.
Meanwhile on the other side we have a Sabres team who is off to a red hot start with a 7-1-1 mark including a 4-0 unblemished record at home. The Sabres had a good stretch in the early stages of the season last year and people were ready to call them the Cinderella team of the year before they tapered off and the Hurricanes claimed that title. It's a little premature and it remains to be seen if this years version of the Sabres learned a valuable lesson or not. Staying in the now, we'd be foolish to ignore the early season success in between the pipes by Carter Hutton. Hutton is off to a red hot start going 5-0 with a 1.39 goals against with a .953 save percentage. Hutton enters tonight's contest coming off back to back shutouts including a 47 save effort in LA. These efforts led to him being NHL's 3rd star of the week. In tonight's game Hutton will face a Sharks offense who comes in 21st in the NHL in goals and average with 2.63 per contest. Breaking that down a little further the Sharks have only scored 13 even strength goals, which is tied for second to last in the league and only slightly (2 goals) better than dead last Rangers, who have played 2 fewer games.
The only chance I see the Sharks having in winning this game is if they win the special teams battle. Even that I feel will be a stretch as I think Buffalo will be using it's speed, winning the puck battles and the possession game. They will limit the opportunities the Sharks get on the power play where over a third of the Sharks goals have come from this year. The Sharks do come in with the #1 PK unit and I'd be naive to ignore it. That being said that is the only strength I see the Sharks having in this game and it could be tested by Buffalo's 4th ranked PP unit, and league leading 11 goals. The Sabres PK unit has struggled so they will be wise to stay out of the box in this game. The Sabres coaching staff should be urging the guys to stay out of the box and make the Sharks beat score 5 on 5, which again they have struggled this year to score. I'm no math wizard but 13 five on five goals in 8 games comes out to a dismal 1.65 per contest which isn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination. The success formula for the Sabres tonight is in the pudding.
Congrats - nice hit.
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