The most interesting matches of the NHL regular season are still ahead, and we are waiting for a modest meeting between Buffalo and Arizona. The start of the game of these teams is scheduled for October 16 at 20:00 Moscow time. Our portal has prepared its forecast for this confrontation for you.
Buffalo Sabres
The offseason was spent in scandals and sales of key players. The most painful will be the loss of Ulmark, who became disillusioned with the team and left for Boston. The new goalie line does not look reliable, which could worsen the crisis. It was not possible to sign particularly strong players, therefore it is not worth counting on a positive result this year. "Buffalo" had a good preseason and started with a victory over "Montreal", but still the team does not set more goals for itself.
Arizona Coyotes
After a disastrous season, the team had a very controversial offseason. Having lost the draft picks, the team could not go into a full-fledged restructuring, which noticeably weakened the roster. The Coyotes managed to sign a few good performers, besides, the goalie line was completely updated, but this would rather be a big minus for the team, given the level of newcomers. Such changes responded to the team already in the first game, where the Coyotes defeated Columbus 8:2.
Injuries and disqualifications:
- Injuries:
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Buffalo - Aikel (lower body injury), Samuelsson (knee injury).
Arizona - Galchenyuk (lower body injury).
Statistics and figures
- The last match between these teams ended with the victory of "Arizona" with a score of 5:2.
- Buffalo has a good streak of two consecutive wins.
- Arizona has lost just twice in its last five matches.
Forecast
It is difficult to single out a favorite in this game, because both teams have modest lineups and do not show a consistently high level of play. "Buffalo" is clearly out of shape now, the team is going into restructuring and it's not worth waiting for good results in the near future, even though they started the season with a victory. The guests in the first game were defeated, and also have problems with the construction of the game. I think we will have a bright game with a lot of goals.