Oilers host Sabres in battle of last place teams

[SpikedLemonade]

The Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers are the two worst teams in the NHL, and the Sabres are certainly deserving of that distinction as they're mired in the longest losing streak in franchise history.

They'll try to prevent it from reaching 13 tonight when they go for a fifth straight win in Edmonton.

The Oilers have lost four of six, with the victories coming against teams from the East. Edmonton, 9-7-1 against the opposing conference, returned from the All-Star break with a 2-1 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday....

....Buffalo (14-31-3) finished last in the league in 2013-14, and it's in the same position this season while sitting two points back of the Oilers (12-27-9), who are in the Western Conference cellar.

The Sabres' spiral to the bottom of the NHL has turned historic. They've set a team record with 12 straight losses, and they've all come in regulation for the longest such skid since Pittsburgh went 13 games in 2003-04.

Buffalo is also 0-11-1 in its last 12 on the road, surrendering an average of 4.58 goals while scoring 1.75 per game.....

http://www.tsn.ca/oilers-host-sabres...teams-1.194636

[elltrain22]

Bad vs. Bad= good game

[coastal]

Tank on!!!

[DetDannyWilliams]

EDMONTON, Alberta – Tankapalooza. Tanker’s Paradise. The McEichel Bowl. The Tin Cup final.

Come up with whatever name you can. It might be more enticing than the actual product we’ll see on the ice Thursday night in Rexall Place, the once-glorious Northlands Coliseum that was the site of classic 1980s hockey among the best ever produced by the NHL.

An otherwise mundane January game with no playoff impact between the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers is suddenly full of all kinds of implications that will make it a talking point around the league.

The capsule look at what’s at stake reads like this:

• It is game 49 for both teams on the 82-game schedule. Edmonton (12-27-9) is 29th in the NHL’s overall standing with 33 points while the Sabres (14-31-3) have lost a franchise-record 12 straight games in regulation and are dead last with 31. A loss tonight would set a new club mark for longest winless streak, breaking the 0-8-4 stretch Buffalo endured in 1991.

• Last place, of course, gives that team an 20 percent chance at the No. 1 pick in the NHL’s draft lottery in April. But more important, it guarantees a top-two pick come June. Lose the lottery, and ostensibly the chance to draft Erie Otters phenom Connor McDavid, and you’re sure to get Boston University stud Jack Eichel. Finish 29th and your 100 percent chance at a McEichel pick drops to just 33.5 percent. If someone outside the bottom two wins the lottery, No. 29 falls out of McEichel range entirely to 28.

• Even if they win Thursday in regulation, the Sabres will still be 30th. The teams would be equal in points but Edmonton would hold 29th for now on the basis of a better goal differential, the fourth tiebreaker.

• The Sabres had a 10-point lead over Edmonton as recently as Dec. 29. But the Oilers have gone 5-5-2 in their last 12 games thanks in part to new coach Todd Nelson and the acquisition of former Buffalo center Derek Roy. Meanwhile, the Sabres have floundered at 0-12 to fall two points back. Buffalo is 0-10 in January with two games left and has never gone winless in a month of at least eight games in its history.

http://sabres.buffalonews.com/2015/01/28/sabres-oilers-dismiss-tank-talk/

Murray tank commander.jpg

[coastal]

Tank on.

[SpikedLemonade]

13 losses in a row.

A complete embarrassment to the NHL.

[Skooby]

We better get McDavid.

[Dr. Lecter]

At best (unless they get another lottery pick) those odds will be 20%

Eichel is fine too.

[SpikedLemonade]

At best (unless they get another lottery pick) those odds will be 20%

For this year.

In future years the NHL will decrease the odds.

In will be a proud Buffalo legacy.

[Novacane]

That was a very important loss.

[SpikedLemonade]

That was a very important loss.

If Edmonton is The City of Champions, I guess that makes Buffalo The City of Losers.

[OpIv37]

For this year.

In future years the NHL will decrease the odds.

In will be a proud Buffalo legacy.

You have an obsession with the tank, as if you are scared that it's going to work and the Sabres will be kicking ass in a couple of years.....

When that happens, the bandwagoners will come out, so just remember who is here now.

[SpikedLemonade]

You have an obsession with the tank, as if you are scared that it's going to work and the Sabres will be kicking ass in a couple of years.....

When that happens, the bandwagoners will come out, so just remember who is here now.

So in your opinion, non-Sabre fans should respect what the Sabres are doing right now?

[Dr. Lecter]

I don't think they should really care.

[OpIv37]

So in your opinion, non-Sabre fans should respect what the Sabres are doing right now?

In my opinion, non-Sabres fans shouldn't give a **** about what the Sabres are doing now.

In fact, if I was a fan of an Eastern Conf team competing for one of those last two playoff spots, I'd be happy that there is one less team good enough to compete and that I could probably count on some easy wins over the Sabres to help in the standings.

[Dr. Lecter]

Like I always tell Bills fans when they whine about the refs or Patriots - worry about your team. Not other teams.

So worry about the Bruins getting old and stuff.

[SpikedLemonade]

Other NHL fans seem to care ==> http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/sh...815559&page=15

[Dr. Lecter]

Appeal to the popularity!!!!


They do it too!!!


I'm telling Shiva!

[SpikedLemonade]

Appeal to the popularity!!!!


They do it too!!!


I'm telling Shiva!

Actually, the "they do it too" mantra has been used here by Sabre fans when they point to Pens, Hawks and Kings.

I'm just telling you that there are non-Sabre fans that are pissed off when the integrity of a game they love is Buffalo'd on.

The Sabres franchise will have no respect going forward other than by Sabres fans.

[Dr. Lecter]

It's only used when you say this has never happened before and act like it's going to ruin hockey or is without precedent.