The Buffalo Sabres continue to struggle with consistency, a challenge that the Nashville Predators can relate to as well.
Both teams, sitting near the bottom of their conferences, will meet in Buffalo on Friday night. They each have 43 points, with Buffalo in last place in the Eastern Conference and Nashville near the bottom in the Western Conference.
Since an early losing streak, Buffalo has a record of 8-7-1 but has only managed back-to-back wins twice. However, they broke through on Tuesday with a dominant 7-2 victory at home against Boston.
“We’ve said through all of these (games), even in a lot of the disappointments, we’re in this thing together,” said Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.
Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each scored a hat trick and added an assist in the win. Buffalo matched its season-high goal total after struggling to score in recent games. Thompson has nine goals and 10 assists in his last 16 games, while Peterka has four goals and nine assists in 12 games this month.
“It’s starting to open up a little bit,” Thompson said. “And when you get stuff rolling like (Tuesday), you’ve got to just ride that wave and keep firing pucks at the net and get to the net. When you do that, good things happen.”
Despite the win, Buffalo hasn’t had much success against Nashville lately, losing the last three meetings, including two at home. Nashville, meanwhile, has lost two straight after a season-high five-game win streak.
This season, Nashville has struggled with consistency, losing at least two consecutive games in regulation six times. They have only won two or more straight games four times.
After scoring 27 goals during their five-game win streak, Nashville has scored just three goals in their last two games. In a 3-1 loss to Vancouver on Wednesday, they posted 32 shots on goal but only managed a single first-period goal.
“We’ve been creating a lot of offense, so it’s looking up for us right now creating-wise,” said Tommy Novak, who has seven points in his last five games. “(Wednesday night) stings to not close that one out and get the lead.”
Despite the recent struggles, the Predators remain optimistic for their upcoming road games against Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
“There’s great energy,” said Nashville head coach Andrew Brunette. “There’s great effort. Just, this league is hard.”
Predators’ star goalie Juuse Saros stopped 19 of 21 shots against Vancouver but has allowed 11 goals in his last three starts. Backup Justus Annunen has been strong, going 3-0-0 in January despite a 3.00 goals-against average.
Filip Forsberg’s 10-game point streak ended Wednesday. Forsberg had nine goals and 10 assists during that stretch.
Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been solid in net recently, with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage in his last three starts. Backup James Reimer has only one win in eight starts since joining the team but has been solid in January, stopping 61 of 67 shots.
