In a new feature here on the blog, I’ll be previewing the early weekend games that are scheduled to be at a good viewing time here in Europe.
The two European-friendly NHL games this weekend are split across Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday’s early match-up sees the Anaheim Ducks taking on the Philadelphia Flyers. Coverage begins at 6pm UK time, 7pm Central Europe.
The Ducks come into it off the back of their best game of the young season. On Thursday, they recovered from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the previously-unbeaten Boston Bruins 4-3 in OT. Leo Carlsson claimed his second NHL goal, whilst John Gibson rolled back the years in between the pipes, giving some credence to the hopes that his previous form is still in there somewhere.
Sunday’s game sees the Colorado Rockies travelling to Buffalo to face the Sabres. It’s the same time locally, but one hour earlier in the UK and Europe as we put the clocks back one hour overnight, whilst that happens in a week’s time in North America.
The Sabres took a tough 5-4 loss in New Jersey on Friday night, carrying on what’s been a slightly underwhelming 3-5 start to the season. Buffalo were seen by many as a team that could really take a big step forward this season and Sunday’s game against the Rockies would be a good time to start.
They’ll do so against a Colorado Rockies team that took their first loss of the season last time out when they were beaten 4-0 in Pittsburgh on Thursday. The defeat not only took away the ‘0’ in their loss column, it also brought to an end an NHL-record 15-game road winning streak stretching back into last season.
