Buffalo vs. Winnipeg Preview

Last night, the Carolina Hurricanes outscored the Buffalo Sabres 4-2. Although the Hurricanes currently reside in the basement of the Eastern Conference, it was an almost inevitable outcome as the Sabres haven't put together consecutive wins since November 11th. Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets have been playing great hockey, sans their past two performances. Before those contests, the Jets were 10-3-1 in their previous 14 games.

The Sabres "welcome back" Ville Leino after a brief absence from a lower body injury. While Leino hasn't been playing at a level anywhere near anticipated, he does provide valuable minutes to a lineup that, as of late, has been depleted due to injuries (Roy, Ennis, Ehrhoff, Sekera). 

Ryan Miller will start tonight for the Sabres; Ondrej Pavelec for the Jets. Miller has struggled at times this year, but let's not forget his abilities. Vezina, anyone? I hear Sabres' fans constantly demanding a trade for Miller and one can't help but laugh. He's been the heart and soul of this team for a long while now. Maybe if he didn't experience so many odd-man rushes, there wouldn't be so many losses. Blame the team, not the goalie.

Pavelec has been excellent this season. His stats may not be jaw-dropping (14-13-5 with a 2.94 GAA), but he always gives his team a chance to win. The Jets were without Tobias Enstrom for a lengthy period of time and now Dustin Byfuglien is out with an undisclosed injury. Those are far and away their best defensemen. Despite all of this, look for another strong performance from Pavelec tonight.

Recent scoring has come from:

WPG: Blake Wheeler - 9 points in last 7 games

WPG: Tobias Enstrom - 2 points in last 3 games

BUF: Jason Pominville - 4 points in last 4 games

BUF: Jordan Leopold - 5 points in last 6 games

Players due for big games:

WPG: Nik Antropov

BUF: Luke Adam

Two incredibly important points are up for grabs and I expect both teams to be competing at a playoff-like level. Buffalo is currently three points behind Winnipeg. Winnipeg is only two points shy of the eighth seed. With the playoffs in the near future, it's never too early to start battling. Before you know it, it's March. 

Play now.

See you in the press box, kiddos.

Look for my mid-season review tomorrow!