The Buffalo Sabres have one more home game from laiyongcai92's blog

 before they hit the road for the first time this season.They would like nothing better than to make it three wins in a row Thursday night when they host the Colorado Avalanche at KeyBank Center.It will conclude a four-game homestand that opened the Sabres’ season. They will play their next five games on the road.Article continues below ...After hearing boos when they dropped their season opener 4-0 to the Boston Bruins on Oct. 4 http://www.starsshoponline.com/authentic-brett-ritchie-jersey , they have defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 on Saturday and the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Monday.Jack Eichel, 21, the Sabres’ newly appointed captain, scored twice Monday to give Buffalo (2-1-0) more wins than losses for the first time since the third game of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. It had been 457 games, dating to Jan. 24, 2013, since Buffalo had more wins than losses.“The things you can control are your compete, your attitude and your work,” Eichel said. “If we do that and stick together and compete for each other, I think there’s a lot of good things that can happen. … I like the direction in which our group is going right now.”The Avalanche (2-1-0) lost 5-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday in their first road game of the season. Colorado will try to come out with more jump from the start at Buffalo.“I don’t want to take anything away from Columbus, because they had a good first period,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “But we stood around. We weren’t ready to start. So, when you stand around Dennis Cholowski Jersey Womens , it’s pretty easy to move the puck around you. It’s also the reason why we had three penalties in five, six minutes of the first period. When you’re not moving your legs, and not skating, teams are going to move it around and you’re going to take penalties. That’s what happened.”Philipp Grubauer made his first start in goal for Colorado, with Semyon Varlamov, who had started the two wins, backing up. Varlamov is likely to start Thursday.After falling behind 2-0 in the first period Tuesday, the Avalanche tied the game before the Blue Jackets regained control with three third-period goals, including one into an empty net.“Second period was great,” said Grubauer, who allowed four goals on 34 shots. “First one and third one, that’s where we ran into some trouble. You play the right way in the second (but) you have to play the right way for 60 minutes, not one period.”The Avalanche must be prepared to play a Sabres team that is willing to work with Eichel leading the way.“He’s made a commitment to do it every day http://www.starsshoponline.com/authentic-devin-shore-jersey , not just when we’re under the bright lights,” Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo said of Eichel. “He’s done a really good job in practice of setting the tone and setting the pace. He’s the best player on our team and if he’s the hardest worker every day, the team is going to follow him.”“It’s really, really early but we’ve put in the work throughout the summer and in training camp,” Sabres right winger Jason Pominville said. “It’s a different vibe, a different atmosphere. It’s definitely nice to be able to get the start that we have had for sure.”Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian (lower-body injury) skated with the team Wednesday for the first time since he was injured Sept. 25 and will need more practice time before he returns to the lineup.Centers Vladimir Sobotka (upper body), who was injured in the season opener, and Johan Larsson (lower body), who has not played this season, have returned to practice but coach Phil Housley said their status has not been determined for Thursday.Avalanche defenseman Patrik Nemeth (upper body) will return to the lineup Thursday and center Vladislav Kamenev will probably make his season debut. Nemeth was injured in the season opener Oct. 4 against the Minnesota Wild.Kamenev was recalled by the Avalanche Sunday after playing two games with the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League. Kamenev has five games of NHL experience, three with the Avalanche last season after being acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators Nov. 5. He missed 50 games in 2017-18 with a broken arm.“It is a good time to give him an opportunity,” Bednar said. “He’s played a couple games over the weekend, he’s been up and practiced for a few days and is energized and ready to go.” DETROIT (AP) The Washington Capitals are in first place because of victories like this.Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves for his third shutout of the season Womens Esa Lindell Jersey , and Brett Connolly scored the game’s only goal on a third-period breakaway to lift the Capitals to a 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. Washington was far from dominant, but the Capitals created the game’s best scoring chance and that was enough.”I know they had a lot of shots, but this was a pretty easy game,” Grubauer said. ”The guys kept the front of the net clear, so I could see everything they were taking.”Washington is last in the NHL in shots per game, but the Capitals have won six of seven and lead Pittsburgh and Columbus by four points atop the Metropolitan Division as the regular season winds down.Washington has turned increasingly to Grubauer of late after Braden Holtby struggled in February and at the beginning of March. Holtby wasn’t available Thursday because of an injury coach Barry Trotz described as a tweak.The Capitals took the lead with 13:19 remaining after Detroit defenseman Xavier Ouellet couldn’t control the puck near Washington’s blue line. Connolly and teammate Jakub Vrana went the other way on a two-man breakaway , and Connolly beat Jimmy Howard with a wrist shot to the glove side.Connolly has 15 goals this season on 64 shots.”You can get too cute on a 2-on-0, and I didn’t want to mess it up,” Connolly said. ”I think Howard was expecting a pass, but I haven’t had many good looks in the last few games, so I was taking this one. I needed it.”Howard was indeed expecting a pass.”The way Vrana opened up for the one-timer, I was expecting at least one pass,” Howard said. ”He caught me by surprise there.”Detroit has lost 11 of 12 and was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. The Red Wings will miss the postseason for a second consecutive season.The Red Wings had a goal called back for goalie interference in the first period – replays showed Tyler Bertuzzi appearing to make contact with Grubauer in front of the net. Detroit squandered a great opportunity in the second when the Red Wings had a two-man advantage for the full 2:00.”Gru was the difference in the game. Detroit had a great game plan and really used their speed to box us up Jamie Benn Jersey ,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”We were in a lot of tough spots, but Gru kept making the big saves we needed. We just need to score a few more goals for him.”Andreas Athanasiou had a breakaway in the third, but couldn’t beat Grubauer . Athanasiou had another chance in the final minutes, but his deflected shot went wide as Grubauer tried unsuccessfully to grab it with his glove.NOTES: The Red Wings announced before the game that D Mike Green will have season-ending surgery on his cervical spine. ”This dates back to a year ago, basically. He’s played through it. We knew at some point that this was inevitable,” coach Jeff Blashill said. ”I know there was some wondering why Green wasn’t traded. Well, this was why, because teams knew that if again, if he took the wrong hit, he might be out.” … Capitals F Evgeny Kuznetsov missed a third straight game with an upper-body injury. … Washington signed D Tobias Geisser to a three-year entry-level contract beginning in the 2018-19 season, and the Capitals also recalled G Pheonix Copley from the Hershey Bears.UP NEXTCapitals: Visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.Red Wings: Visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.—