The Buffalo Sabres have one more home game

The Buffalo Sabres have one more home game 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 Dallas Stars T-Shirts Womens , 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, 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 Dallas Stars Hoodies Womens , 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, 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) Dallas Stars Hats Womens , 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.” BOSTON (AP) Jake DeBrusk watched the tiebreaking goal go into the net from ice level, sliding into the boards on his backside after he was flattened by Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner.The Bruins rookie didn’t even have time to climb up off his knees before he was mobbed by teammates.”Jake had a real coming-out party in the series,” coach Bruce Cassidy said after DeBrusk scored twice to help Boston beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-4 on Wednesday night and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.”He scored going to the net, dirty areas,” said Cassidy, whose team opens the second round against the Lightning in Tampa Bay on Saturday. ”That’s always the first thing: play inside, be willing to get hit, fight for your space. That’s playoff hockey. They weren’t freebies. They’ve been real greasy, as advertised.”Five years after rallying from a three-goal, third-period deficit and beating Toronto in Game 7 of their first-round series, the Bruins again scored four straight goals to eliminate the Maple Leafs. After Kasperi Kapanen put Toronto ahead 4-3 with a short-handed goal in the second, Torey Krug tied it, DeBrusk gave Boston the lead with 14:35 to play.Despite the final score Custom Dallas Stars Jerseys , the teams were tied or separated by one goal for the first 2 1/2 periods, until David Pastrnak made it 6-4 with 8:21 to play. Brad Marchand flipped one into the empty net with 51 seconds left to set off a celebration in the stands.”For entertainment value, that was probably one of the better Game 7s you’ll see,” said Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who stopped just 20 of 24 shots. ”It was only a one-goal game going into the third and we shut it down and scored some good goals.”Danton Heinen scored his first NHL postseason goal, Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists, and David Krejci had three assists for the Bruins. In his first NHL postseason action, DeBrusk had seven points in seven games.”Uh, it went pretty well,” he said with a laugh. ”Obviously, with the win it was special – something I’ll never forget. I’ll never forget this series just in general, first playoffs. I was really happy to contribute.”Frederik Andersen had 29 saves for the Maple Leafs, who have not won a playoff series since 2004. They came close in the first round in 2013, when they rallied from a three-games-to-one deficit against Boston and took a 4-1 lead in Game 7.”It’s always disappointing,” said Patrick Marleau, who scored twice for Toronto. ”Obviously, you’re trying to win the Cup. To fall short once again www.redwingsshoponline.com , it’s heartbreaking every time.”Travis Dermott also scored for the Maple Leafs, who again won back-to-back games after falling behind 3-1 in the series. Game 6 came in Toronto on the night that a man drove a van onto a crowded sidewalk in the city, killing 10 people and injuring more than a dozen others.The teams combined for five goals in the first period before Toronto scored twice in the second, taking a 4-3 lead when Kapanen beat Marchand to a loose puck and then held him off, skidding to a stop in front of Rask before poking the around his left skate.In the third, the Bruins scored two 4-on-4 goals after matching penalties opened up the ice. Krug made it 4-4 on a slapper from the point just 1:10 in, and then DeBrusk put the Bruins ahead.”I think that we’re all just pretty excited right now to have a chance to continue playing together and take on Tampa,” DeBrusk said. ”We’re going to enjoy this one tonight, but then go back to the drawing board.”Notes: Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, in his first full season on the Boston bench, was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year. … Celtics Hall of Famer Tommy Heinsohn was the honorary fan banner captain, getting the crowd riled up before the game. … The Bruins are 14-12 in Game 7s and Toronto is 12-11. … Boston’s Kevan Miller had two assists for his first multi-point playoff game.