Pre-Ottawa focus on Defense

According to James Mirtle, the Sabres have the oldest defense in the league, with 32.1 being the average age. Granted Numminen throws off these numbers significantly. Still I don't feel as if this is a bad thing, having a more veteran presence on defense like Buffalo has this year with Teppo and Rivet has so far looked to be a good thing.

Unfortunately Rivet is out with an injury, and Henrik Tallinder might be as well. Tallinder's injury does not appear to be serious, but leaves the possibility that he might not play against Ottawa.

If Henrik is out then Mike Weber would be called up from the Portland Pirates to take his place. Arguably he is even better the Paetsch who was put in as a replacement for Rivet. Weber played real well with Sekera at the end of last season, so expect those two to be paired up together again.

Injuries to Buffalo's defense look to hurt the team more than any injuries to their forwards would. Still Weber has shown himself to be a dependable player and I doubt Tallinder will be out for too long.

Buffalo's monday night opponent, the Ottawa Senators, have gotten off to a very poor start at 2-5-1. A fall was expected from Ottawa, but they still have a number of very good players and can not be taken lightly by Buffalo. Even the season the Sabres won the president's trophy they lost half of their games against Ottawa.