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Posted at 2:15 PM EST. 

7:05 PM EST. Regulation only. Beat reporters travel, spend time with and get a real sense of what’s happening with the team they're covering and they can also get a feel for the opposition, as they usually attend the morning practice for both teams. We use social media as a way of gathering important information that may tip the scale in our favor. It is for that reason we follow every single beat reporter in the NHL and it comes in handy from time to time. This is a good example of that.

The Sabres and Wild are both struggling miserably. Minnesota has dropped two straight and are dead last in the Central. It’s a long swim back in this league when you fall behind and that’s the spot the Wild are in now. Buffalo, meanwhile, is in worse shape with six straight losses while scoring just one goal in four of those games. The best thing a team can do to break out of a slump is to work harder and if that doesn’t snap them out of it, work even harder. Well, one of the beat reporters on the scene tweeted this out this morning after the morning skate:

“Very odd day that I'll blame on Thanksgiving. Sabres had an optional skate, as did the Wild, but the Wild's optional was well attended. The Sabres was not”.

We’re not going to ignore that. Phil Housley is doing a horrible job in Buffalo. Housley put Jack Eichel down to the 3rd line last game although he’s likely to be back on the first line tonight. Oilers coach, Todd McLellan tried that with Connor McDavid. How’s that working out? Few Sabres attending the optional skate tells us that the players are not willing to go the extra mile for their coach. Furthermore, the Sabres goaltending is a mess while Minnesota’s goaltending is consistently very good.

Bruce Boudreau must have secretly been smiling when he saw how many of his players showed up today for his optional. That’s a sign that his players will go the extra mile to snap out of a slump. Aside from that, Minnesota is a determined team whose will has not been broken by a slow start. The Wild played their hearts out last game but two fluke goals by the Devils cost them a victory. The return of Charlie Coyle has virtually gone unnoticed but anytime you can get a quality center back playing 15 to 17 minutes a game, it makes a huge difference. The Wild are healthier right now than they’ve been all season. They are very likely going to go on a big time run too because that’s how committed Boudreau’s players have been to him forever. The Wild could not have handpicked a better opponent to start that run against. Invest. 

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