The Colorado Avalanche are in a win-now mode, focusing on a Stanley Cup title this season. The Buffalo Sabres are building for the future.
The two divergent franchise plans meet for a Saturday matinee matchup when the Avalanche visit Buffalo. The game was originally scheduled for Dec. 22 but was postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Sabres.
The teams met in Denver on Jan. 30 when the Avalanche posted a 4-1 win for their 10th consecutive victory. Since then, they are 3-1-1, and lead the NHL with 74 points on the season.
Colorado has lost just once in regulation since Dec. 16. That one loss came against Dallas on Tuesday night, and within 24 hours they were back to winning, shutting out Vegas 2-0, which spoiled the Golden Knights’ home debut for former Buffalo captain Jack Eichel.
Colorado has been winning in different ways and getting production from different players. Nazem Kadri is in the top five in scoring in the NHL, third-year defenseman Cale Makar is a strong candidate for the Norris Trophy, and Nathan MacKinnon is the team’s best all-around player.
Lately, goaltender Darcy Kuemper and captain Gabriel Landeskog have been leading the way. Kuemper has shutouts in each of his last two starts and is 15-0-2 in his last 17 games. After an uneven start to his first season with the Avalanche he has been more than solid.
Landeskog has eight goals in the last eight contests, two of which were game winners. That gives him 23 goals, second most on the team, and on pace to easily eclipse his career high of 34.
“He’s our captain and biggest leader. He plays the right way always,” said Mikko Rantanen, who leads Colorado with 25 goals. “A two-way game and he can score, too, like we’ve seen lately and the whole season. He’s a big key to our team.”
The Sabres had their modest two-game winning streak end Thursday night with a 3-1 loss to Ottawa. They will wrap up a three-game homestand Saturday.
The Sabres could have center Casey Mittelstadt back in the lineup against the Avalanche. He hasn’t played since the loss at Colorado on Jan. 30 and has appeared in only seven games this season. Lingering effects of an upper-body injury prompted Mittelstadt to have surgery in late December.
Mittelstadt has been skating and the hope is a possible return for the Avalanche game.
“We’re trying to calm him down a little bit. He had a really good day (Tuesday) and a hard day,” general manager Kevyn Adams said of Mittelstadt’s work on Wednesday with assistant coach Matt Ellis.
“Matt was trying to give him game-like simulation, shift length — all that stuff. And he responded well. What I told Casey, and he’s such a competitive kid, is we’re trying to set him up for success, and not you’re going to play three out of four (games). We want to let him just roll.”
–Field Level Media