lufkindailynews
After a sluggish start that saw them win only four of their first 11 contests, the Buffalo Sabres, the reigning Atlantic Division champions, have turned things around by capturing four of their last five games, including a convincing 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.
Now, the Sabres are set to face what may be their most demanding stretch of the season. On Sunday afternoon, Buffalo will host the Vegas Golden Knights, the defending Western Conference champions, and former Sabre Jack Eichel. That game will be followed by an Atlantic Division clash with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After that, the Sabres will embark on a grueling road schedule, playing 10 of their next 12 games away from home. The stretch begins with their longest road trip of the year—a six-game swing that includes stops in Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Florida, and Tampa Bay.
It's a formidable challenge, but right wing Josh Doan says the Sabres are eager to embrace it. "It's going to battle test us, and that's something that we want at this time of year," Doan told the Buffalo News. "You want to start to feel what it's like to play these high-end teams again. We've talked about how hard it is going to be in the league to win hockey games just because of how deep it is. So, there's no night it's going to be easy but to see some of these teams come in, you've got to be ready."
Vegas will be concluding a four-game road trip. The Golden Knights have earned five of a possible six points so far, with their only loss coming in a 3-2 shootout defeat at Boston to open the trip. They followed that with one-goal victories at Pittsburgh and Detroit. Most recently, Vegas rallied from a 1-0 third-period deficit to beat the Red Wings 2-1 on Thursday. Trevor Connelly netted the game-winner with 1:42 remaining, firing a wrist shot from the left circle into the top far corner.
The goal marked the third consecutive game in which the 20-year-old Connelly, selected 19th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, has scored. Connelly took a pass from Eichel at the blue line, toe-dragged around Michael Rasmussen inside the left circle, and snapped a shot past the glove side of Daniil Tarasov for his seventh goal of the season. "As soon as I saw (Eichel) get some speed going I tried to match it," Connelly said. "He's such a threat off the rush, so I knew if I found some open ice he'd either find me or make a play of his own. The guy who was covering me kind of overcommitted, and I got off a lucky shot."
In Buffalo's win over Columbus on Friday, Josh Norris scored twice and Owen Power added three assists. Norris opened the scoring late in the first period to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead, and Buffalo then exploded for three goals in the second period to take a 5-1 advantage. Norris had entered the game mired in a six-game goal drought dating back to Oct. 17. "I just tried to have an attack mindset," said Norris, who doubled his season goal total to four. "I was just focusing on today, staying in the moment, try to be better. I haven't been good enough and I wanted to have a good game today, go out there and contribute and play hard. That's all. Leave it all out there, and I thought I did that."
Buffalo swept both meetings with Vegas last season and has won three straight over the Golden Knights.
--Field Level Media
Originally reported by lufkindailynews.