A Quick Sabres at Oilers Preview

A (very) brief preview ahead of Thursday's match up in Edmonton

The Buffalo Sabres kick off their three-game Western Canada road trip tonight when they face the Oilers in Edmonton (9:00 pm EST puck drop). This preview would normally appear in my weekly Sabres Newsletter, but since I’m running a little behind this week I figured I would make a separate post ahead of Thursday night’s game.

(AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Edmonton has had an up and down year, starting the season on fire before hitting a stretch cold enough to cost head coach Dave Tippet his job. They’ve stabilized since then, going 10-5-1 under interim head coach Jay Woodcroft and sitting third in the Pacific. It’s not hard to point out where the Oilers’ strengths are, with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl sitting one and three in league scoring respectively. But their question marks are out there too. The goaltending is shaky at best, their defense is questionable, and outside of McDavid and Draisaitl, there isn’t much offense (McDavid has 85 points, Draisaitl has 83, and Zach Hyman comes in as third in team scoring at 38 points.).

If the Sabres contain McDavid and Draisaitl, there aren’t many reasons Buffalo cannot win this game. The Sabres are flying high from a couple of impressive wins at home against Vegas and against Toronto in the Heritage Classic. Playing particularly well is the line of Peyton Krebs-Dylan Cozens-Vinnie Hinostroza, who have combined for 8 points in the last two games. It will be interesting to see if that line, along with the rest of the team, can keep the momentum. It’s worth noting that both Colin Miller and Zemgus Girgensons are slated to return to the lineup tonight. Look for Miller, in particular, to receive a lot of ice time for the purposes of raising his value ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.