Nashville Predators vs. Buffalo Sabres Preview: Back to the Drawing Board

After a four-game winning streak and points in nine of 10 games, the Nashville Predators are on a two-game losing streak as they return home to face the Buffalo Sabres.

You have to head back to the drawing board if you’re Head Coach John Hynes as some troubling trends with this team are emerging back into the mix.

It was a rollercoaster five-game Eastern Conference road trip for the Nashville Predators. They went 3-2-0, saw Juuse Saros have one of the best games for a goalie in NHL history, and Yaroslav Askarov made his highly-anticipated NHL debut.

The Predators defensive front got carved up during the road trip surrendering a lot of shots on goal. It won’t get any easier as the Sabres come in as the top scoring team in the NHL and a top-five power play.

However, the Sabres come in reeling a bit with three consecutive losses and sitting six points out of a wildcard spot. You have two teams in very similar situations in their respective conferences and the postseason race.

Matchups to Watch

The Sabres have been very opportunistic on the offensive end this season, while the Nashville Predators have been the exact opposite through much of the first half.

This will be another game where the Predators will get blasted for a high amount of shots if they don’t tighten up their defensive structure. The Sabres don’t mess around offensively.

Tage Thompson has broken out for the Sabres and leads the charge. He’s only 11 points shy of his career high with still half of the regular season remaining. He is third in the NHL with 31 goals, 14 coming on the power play.

ESPN Analyst Kevin Weekes thinks Thompson can surpass the 60-goal mark this season when it’s all said and done:

No one on the Nashville Predators has more than five power play goals, with that player being Roman Josi with five. An area that has went from a huge strength in 2021-22 to completely unreliable at the halfway point.

The bright side of this equation from the Predators standpoint is for all of the good the Sabres do on the offensive end, they also give up a lot of chances and have struggled mightily on the penalty kill.

The Sabres are a team that has to score a lot of goals to win. They don’t have reliable goaltending as they have rotated three goaltenders in and out.

The key to this game is going to be if the Nashville Predators can keep up with the frantic scoring pace. This has the potential to be a route if special teams gets heavily involved.

Sabres Goaltending Questions

• Craig Andersen: 7-6-1, 2.70 GAA, .921 Save %
• Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: 9-4-1, 3.46 GAA, .893 Save %
• Eric Comrie: 4-8-0, 3.67 GAA, .883 Save %

This matchup has the makings of plenty of open ice and both goaltenders getting tested early and often. Saros is the expected starter for the Predators, while the Sabres are unconfirmed on their starting goaltender.

X-Factors for Buffalo Sabres vs. Nashville Predators

As usual, does Saros have another gem under his belt? When you play offensive powerhouses like the Sabres, the goaltender can be the neutralizer. He did it to the Hurricanes just a week ago, and he can do it again to the Sabres.

Saros’ quality start percentage is currently the highest of his career going back to his rookie season when he started only 19 games. Through 31 starts, Saros has a .677 quality start percentage with 21 total.

Furthermore, Saros is coming up clutch against High Danger Chances. His .872 save percentage in these situations is also currently the highest of his NHL career.

The Predators have to give Saros more goal support, as incredible as he’s been. This isn’t sustainable long-term and into the postseason, if they even make it. For this particular matchup, Saros can be great once again but still end up surrendering three or four goals.

There should be more open opportunities for the Predators to put up four-plus goals of their own in this one. Filip Forsberg has been on a recent scoring surge, with goals in seven of his last nine games including a hat trick on New Year’s Eve.

Matt Duchene has also been getting more involved on the offensive end as of late, notching a point in 11 of his last 13 games. He is second on the team with 21 assists.

Keep this game at 5-on-5 as much as possible to slow down the game a bit and keep the Sabres from really piling up the shots. The Sabres have 35 goals with the man advantage at 5-on-4, but fall back to 11th in the NHL in goals for at 5-on-5.

Here’s a look at the projected forward line combinations from Hynes, per Emma Lingan:

The line that has been building something is the line of Forsberg and Duchene with the rookie Juuso Parssinen centering. Keep an eye on this trio to ignite some scoring chances.

Mark Jankowski, who has been somewhat of a mainstay in the starting lineup with 24 games, will be a scratch.

The Nashville Predators have to dictate this into their style of game and they should have a strong chance to get back in the win column. The Sabres have playmakers offensively, so it will be about limiting those chances and protecting the house for Saros.

This is the first meeting of 2022-23 between the Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators. They last played on April 1, 2022 in a 4-3 Sabres win with Thompson scoring twice for Buffalo and Forsberg scoring once for Nashville.  bat