A Battle Saturday Preview: Fla-NYR, Buf-Ott, NYI-Stl, NJD-Dal

November 21, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

It’s another busy hockey Saturday and that means all four Battle teams in the mix tonight. While there’s an early matinee between Calgary and LA with Alberta leading 1-zip on another goal from white hot Jarome Iginla with an assist from Jamie Lundmark, we’ll certainly be locked into how the locals fare.

Let’s quickly take a look at each game starting with the two 7’s:

Buf-Ott, 7 ET: On the heels of back-to-back losses including a tough 2-1 OT defeat at home to the Bruins, who suddenly are two out and getting healthier, the Sabres look to bounce back when they visit Ottawa. The Sens quietly have been playing better and enter with a 4-2-1 November mark that featured a blowout home win over the Pens. Mike Fisher is back in form and Chris Phillips is fresh off a two-goal game. Nick Foligno also is contributing. So, it’s no longer just about Spezza and Alfredsson, meaning it should be a stiff challenge. Meanwhile, Alex Kovalev has been fairly quiet and won’t be around due to his wife losing her Mom. So, he had to fly back home to Russia. Our condolences. If Buffalo wants to get back on track, scoring more than their last two (3 total goals) would be wise. Drew Stafford is out with a lower body injury. Hey Thomas Vanek! Any day now.

Fla-NYR, 7 ET: The Rangers are a total mess having lost three of their last four and four of six, dropping to ninth in the East following a 7-2 start. As Micheal Ray Richardson would say, “The ship be sinkin’.” The problem is two fold because no one is scoring outside Gaborik and Vinny Prospal. Then there’s the other areas of concern which include zero physicality or toughness along with shaky netminding from Henrik Lundqvist, who’s left to fend for himself. Might it be wearing on him? Even worse, per Larry Brooks on Twitter, Donald Brashear is actually starting with Chris Higgins and Ryan Callahan. Yikes. As for their opponent, the Panthers are hot having won four of five including consecutive road wins over Buffalo and Detroit. In other words, uh oh. Following their traditional poor start, they’re back at .500 playing solid defensive hockey backed by Tomas Vokoun. A D that features Keith Ballard, Bryan McCabe along with rookie Dmitry Kulikov has steadily improved. Also watch for Stephen Weiss, Steve Reinprecht, Nathan Horton and Michal Frolik, who finally is scoring.

NYI-Stl, 8 ET: The Islanders look to rebound from a tough defeat in which Owen Nolan scored late in regulation. They have been resilient all year and boast the unusual 8-7-7 mark for 23 points. Not bad for a club that doesn’t score a ton yet gets the most out of their ability. JT91 was shutout last night. Something tells us he won’t be two straight against a St. Louis team that’s sorta playing better but has yet to really take off due to a paltry offense that’s scored just 44 goals so far. The defense led by super soph Erik Johnson and goaltending shared by Chris Mason and Ty Conklin, keeps them in games. However, unless Paul Kariya and youngsters David Backes, Patrik Berglund and David Perron get untracked, they’ll be hardpressed to repeat postseasons. Still, they’re coming off an emotional OT win over Phoenix in which T.J. Oshie tied it and Johnson won it. Plus they’re more rested. So, it’ll take a supreme effort from an Isle club that figures to have Dwayne Roloson and Brendan Witt back in tonight. Matt Moulson, Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit need to get involved in what’s been a good road trip (2-1-2) with one more stop at Toronto Monday.

NJD-Dal, 8 ET: Whenever these two teams meet, you can’t help but remember the way their 2000 SCF ended with Patrik Elias setting up Jason Arnott for the Devs’ second Cup. Since, the games are usually entertaining. With Dallas back playing good hockey thanks to a balanced attack led by Brad Richards, Mike Ribeiro, Loui Eriksson, Brenden Morrow, rook Jamie Benn plus suspended James Neal and the Devils again at the top, this figures to be an interesting watch. Especially with MB30 getting a rare night off with Yann Danis getting his third call of duty. He’s been superb permitting only two goals in two wins. Can he provide a spark to his teammates who’ve lost two straight away (0-1-1) following the other night’s shootout defeat in Music City? We don’t see why not as Jacques Lemaire knows the right buttons to push. After a slow start, Zach Parise is on fire having scored in six straight (7 goals, 4 assists), proving why he’s one of the premier forwards. Even if Hasan wondered how he got credit on Colin White’s shot, the Zach Attack knows where to put the puck and has help from Travis Zajac, who’s gone the month without a marker. David Clarkson is finishing but they need better from bust Brian Rolston. Especially with Zubrus out. Matt Corrente debuts on the blueline.

On what shall be another Super Saturday, enjoy tonight’s puck!