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Chicago Blackhawks will travel to the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday night, 6-3-2015, at 8pm EST. Tampa holds home-ice advantage for the series, which may prove a curse in disguise for the young squad that has struggled at home. The teams played twice in the regular season, splitting the games 1-1. -Chicago won the first meeting 3-2 in a shootout in Chicago -Tampa won the second meeting 4-0 in Tampa Should be a helluva series, tons of offense and scoring chances by two really fun teams. I'll take Chicago in 7.

I'm starting this... because I can. I'm here, now, because it's not about anything other than our hometown hockey team playing a hockey game. I'm doing this because no one else wants to do it. You can hate where this team is right now. You can turn in your fan card. You can bitch and moan about the glory years (whenever they were). You can place blame at anyone's door step. You can do all of that and it doesn't change things. YOU. You, are a Buffalo Sabres fan. You're going to get through this, again. You aren't going to like it. You don't have to like it. No one, really, likes it. You have people around you who want to look at it differently than you do. You'll want to hate them for how they look at it. You're going to be so angry with this team that you'll resort to attacking those who feel different about the situation. You won't do it because you hate them, you'll do it because you can't hate the Sabres. You'll do it because you can't post on this forum and know it will be read by someone in the organization. You'll wish so hard that they care, but the reality is that they don't. They don't care about a handful of people who want to hate on them for the situation they are in at this moment. You'll hate them even more for that. You'll try and blame the lady behind the register who didn't smile enough at you for the way the season has gone. You'll want to punch an usher in the face for asking you if you need assistance. You might hold back, you might only resort to saying, "No, the TEAM needs help, why not do something there! Mr. Rogers!" You'll lash out at anyone... they won't deserve it.. but they'll understand. They will understand because they are you, too. The bottom line is that we are Sabres fans. We'll show up, whether we want to or not. We'll hope for the best, while expecting the worst. We'll sit through the excruciating pain and in the end we'll swear a little more, we'll hate some more, and we'll continue on. We'll get through this though. Even if you can't see it, I can. I'm telling you that, YOU. WILL. GET. THROUGH. THIS! It won't be easy, but it will happen. Life has too much negativity in it to add more negativity to an already negative season. If you were counting there, and I know some of you were, that was 3 negatives thus re-instating the negativity. However, the negativity is really aimed at the negativity of others and in that case it's only two negativities and I am trying to make it a positive for you. Life has too much of it. It's everywhere. We are attacking each other over even dumber things than who plays wing on Jack Eichel's line. Think about that. We are engaging in hatred toward our fellow human beings over things MORE inconsequential than if Nathan Beaulieu is playing. We can control this. It's a matter of perspective. Three years ago we were lamenting that the Sabres did not win the lottery. Edmonton, those lucky SOBs, won the lottery. They got their savior (saviour?). Where are they now? They are a franchise who, despite all the breaks when it comes to draft position, still suck. Bad. You feel bad about Okposo, they have Lucic. They wish they had Lehner in net. They suck. The Senators are a franchise in more disarray than Wal-mart shelves on Black Friday. I could go on, but the point is not to find who is worse off. The point is to realize things can always be worse. This team, is our team. If it wasn't we wouldn't be here. If it's not your team, or you feel like you need to walk away, leave your card at the door. This team plays the Lightning tonight. It doesn't matter even the slightest iota on where the Sabres finish in the standings. They will be dead last. They will be the first team to finish 31st in the league. You'll hold onto that like a Linus loves his blanket. In two years, finishing 31st will only be 2nd worst in the league and you won't have to worry about it because your team is in the playoffs. Things have to start looking up at some point. Why not make tonight the night they look up? It's not about the result of this game. It's about knowing that somewhere, beyond the horizon, where you can't yet see, there are unicorns, rainbows, and kittens. It's about knowing that the storm cloud above your head was only there because you put it there. You'll realize it was never that bad. It might not have been that good... but it was never that bad. And with that... Let's Go Buffalo!

Buffalo will continue their Florida road trip in taking on the defending Eastern Conference champs in the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night. Buffalo looks to right the ship after coming off a disappointing 3-2 loss against the Panthers Thursday night, and the Lightning are coming off of two consecutive losses. Tampa beat Buffalo 4-1 in Buffalo for their first match-up of the season Tampa will be without Victor Hedman due to injury (AHL call-up Slater Koekkoek or Dan Boyle are expected to replace him) and Nikita Nesterov from suspension. Alex Killorn should be back for Tampa though, and Bishop will be in net The Sabres will try some new line combinations, with Sam Reinhart practicing on the 1st line with Ennis and O'Reilly. Bogosian suffered a setback in practice, and did not practice with the team on Friday Game preview http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/preview?id=2015020067&navid=sb:preview&intcmpid=sb-preview FRIDAY’S PRACTICE 23 Sam Reinhart – 90 Ryan O’Reilly – 63 Tyler Ennis 9 Evander Kane – 15 Jack Eichel – 12 Brian Gionta 26 Matt Moulson – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 82 Marcus Foligno 44 Nicolas Deslauriers – 22 Johan Larsson/17 David Legwand – 88 Jamie McGinn Defensemen: 4 Josh Gorges, 55 Rasmus Ristolainen, 29 Jake McCabe, 3 Mark Pysyk, 6 Mike Weber, 46 Cody Franson, 25 Carlo Colaiacovo 31 Chad Johnson 50 Nathan Lieuwen http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=783545&navid=DL|BUF|home Oh yeah, and these two teams don't like each other

Your Buffalo Sabres will roll into sunny Florida this Tuesday night to take on the EC Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The Sabres will look to continue their winning ways, going 3-1 and 4-2 recently. The team should be locked, stocked, and ready to go as they ride the high of a thrilling 3-2 win in which Rasmus scored in the final 16.8 to knock of a familiar face in Ryan Miller and Linus Ullmark made his presence known to the league, stopping 35/37 Vancouver shots, many of which were of very high quality. The youngsters are doing their part for Buffalo, as Eichel got his first 2 assists, Pysks made a b-e-a-utiful feed for the McGinn goal, and McCabe has seen his minutes climb from 13 minutes/game to 20 minute/game over the last few contests. The Lightning meanwhile, look to continue pulling themselves out of an early season funk. Coming off of another loss in which the offense was, again, lost, the Lightning look to forget their 1-0 loss to the Wild on Saturday and think back to their 3-0 record vs the Sabres instead. Tampa Bay has serious offensive issues right now, getting shutout 3/8 and held to 1 goal or less in 6/8 recently. If the Sabres are going to push for the playoffs, we have to beat teams when they're down. Especially playoff contending teams like Tampa. Beating the Lightning in Tampa, after a huge Saturday win, could be a launching point for this team. Shake off the demons from the 3 Tampa games earlier, and get a nice winning streak going into a pivotal match-up against the Panthers on Thursday night. This game should be intense. Look for Johnson to start, and possibly Vasilevskiy based on his last performance in Buffalo. Palat is injured (out 5-8 weeks, credit to 3Putt), and Colaiacovo is optimistic to return and replace Weber. Sabres look to juggle the lines again and get Ennis back into the grove. The 2nd and 3rd line look dangerous, and Moulson gets his opportunity again to play big minutes with O'Reilly. Game Preview Stats: Advanced Stats: Game 1 Advanced Stats: Game 2 Advanced Stats: Game 3 Team Comparison Graphs (CF% vs Scoring Chances)(Or any axis you want really) Sabres killing it in this one Monday's Practice Report Forwards: 26 Matt Moulson – 90 Ryan O'Reilly – 12 Brian Gionta 88 Jamie McGinn – 15 Jack Eichel – 63 Tyler Ennis 22 Johan Larsson – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 23 Sam Reinhart 44 Nicolas Deslauriers – 17 David Legwand – 82 Marcus Foligno Defense: 4 Josh Gorges – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 29 Jake McCabe – 46 Cody Franson 25 Carlo Colaiacovo– 3 Mark Pysyk 6 - Mike Weber 35 Linus Ullmark 31 Chad Johnson

HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY! ###### is it good to be back in a GDT. 4 days without Sabres hockey is just too long, especially when they're actually fun to watch again. :beer: Alright; as mentioned, the Sabres are coming off of a 4 day break, which saw a rest day Monday, practice days, and a visit to a military base to honor the troops...and drive humvees or, if you're Zemgus, hold a rocket-launcher. Other than that, Buffalo looks to keep the hot streak going as they come off two straight wins, and have won 3/4. Yes, you read that right, we have a win streak. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has hit a bit of a rut, going 3-5-2 in their last 10, and coming off of a 2-1 loss in Detroit on Tuesday night. Tampa has lost 5/6. Stats: CF%: Buffalo - 52.1%, (6th), Tampa Bay - 51.2%, (10th) FF%: Buffalo - 51.5%, (9th), Tampa Bay - 50.5%, (12th) Fenwick For% = Fenwick For / (Fenwick For + Fenwick Against) Corsi For% = Corsi For / (Corsi For + Corsi Against) Advanced Stats For First Match-up Advanced Stats For Second Match-up Game Preview Look for Linus Ullmark and Bishop to get the start. Ennis will be back, and Drouin (missed 4 games, LBI) and Paquette (missed 5 games, ankle) are both questionable. Wednesday's Practice Report Don't look for the lines to change, they've been the same for the last two days of practice. Looks like Weber has found his place though WEDNESDAY’S PRACTICE 44 Nicolas Deslauriers – 90 Ryan O’Reilly – 63 Tyler Ennis 22 Johan Larsson – 15 Jack Eichel – 82 Marcus Foligno 26 Matt Moulson – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 12 Brian Gionta 88 Jamie McGinn – 17 David Legwand – 23 Sam Reinhart 4 Josh Gorges – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 29 Jake McCabe – 46 Cody Franson 25 Carlo Colaiacovo – 3 Mark Pysyk 6 Mike Weber 31 Chad Johnson 35 Linus Ullmark

I HATE THIS TEAM. I posted this on 12/29 when the Sabres blew a 2-goal lead on the Bruins. Since the first of the year though..... not so much. I actually like to watch the team. They've captured 7 of 8 points in 2017 and just as importantly, they're playing inspired hockey. Please, Sabres, don't take me back to I HATE THIS TEAM. I love watching you now, don't ruin it! The Sabres are getting healthy, while the Lightning are suffering from the injury bug. Starting goalie Ben Bishop is out. Several others are too, and TB is dipping into the AHL to fill out their roster (and no, their Peca and Dumont are not related to the former Sabres). The Sabres know what that's like, they know how other teams can take advantage of a banged up roster, and now it's time to take it out on the Lightning. Kick 'em while they're down, Sabres! Also of note: If we beat TB in regulation and push their losing streak to 5, we pass them in the standings. Likely starting goalies are Anders Nilsson and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Doohickie's pick is Matt Moulson. Look for Matty Mo to score a goal or three!