The Pittsburgh Penguins travel to Buffalo in hopes of snapping their five game losing streak.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have dropped five straight games and are looking for answers. They have no time to figure it out, as they quickly move on from their overtime loss against the Boston Bruins to another Atlantic Division foe: the Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres enter their matchup with a 6-3-0 record, and have been playing impressive hockey to begin the year. Here’s three things to watch for in their upcoming tilt.
1. Will These Penguins Ever Win Again?
The Penguins are in a precarious position. While too early to sound the alarms and push the panic button, this team is playing awful defensively and not getting the goaltending to bail them out. Their offense can score with any team in the league, that remains unquestioned, but they need to keep the puck out of their net.
The best case scenario is for the Penguins is to win a low scoring game. Facing off against a young, energetic team like the Sabres provides for an excellent challenge.
2. Tage Thompson
The Penguins toughest challenge against the Sabres will be shutting down hulking forward Tage Thompson. The 6'6 25 year old is fresh off of 38-goal season that earned him a seven year, $50 million contract extension with Buffalo.
Thompson's 2022-23 season has picked up right where last season left off, as he's registered six goals and 12 points through his team's first nine games. To top it off, he just scored a hat trick and tallied three assists for a six point effort in his most recent game against the Detroit Red Wings.
3. Casey DeSmith vs the Sabres
With the Penguins playing their third set of back-to-back games in the past two weeks, back-up goaltender Casey DeSmith is set to start against the Sabres. He is still searching for his first win of the season. DeSmith played well in his last outing against the Seattle Kraken, stopping 27 of 29 shots.
DeSmith may be in line to get his first win of the season in this upcoming game. In his career against Buffalo, he has posted three shutout wins in six career starts. He'll need to be at his absolute best to help the Penguins snap their winning streak.
It'll be a Reverse Retro jersey matchup when the Penguins face the Sabres at KeyBank Arena for a 7:00 PM faceoff.
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