Pluses, minuses for Sabres-Flyers, Blues-Avalanche

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his thoughts for big games each week throughout the season.

The Buffalo Sabres (4-5-0) visit the Philadelphia Flyers (4-4-1) at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, MSG-B). Then the St. Louis Blues (3-3-1) play at the Colorado Avalanche (6-2-0) at Ball Arena (9:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, ALT2).

Here's my breakdown of the games.

Sabres

Pluses: They're coming off a big 4-0 win against the Avalanche on Sunday, when they neutralized one of the best offenses in the League. It was good for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to get the shutout since he could be playing in this one, too, if Devon Levi still isn't ready to return from a lower-body injury. I'm not worried about the offense; Buffalo has scored 14 goals in its past three games. Forwards Jeff Skinner and JJ Peterka and center Tage Thompson each has at least four goals already, and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is tied with Skinner for the Sabres lead with nine points. And they also have center Dylan Cozens and forwards Alex Tuch and Victor Olofsson, who each scored at least 28 goals last season.

Minuses: Levi was expected to be the starter, and he was since missing the past five games; we'll see if he dresses for this one. Buffalo will also be without rookie forward Zach Benson, week to week with a lower-body injury. He had a great preseason and was getting solid playing time in the first handful of games this season. Lastly, I'm surprised with all the talent they have, they're only clicking at 10.7 percent on the power play (29th in the NHL). That could be the difference between winning and losing.

Flyers

Pluses: We have to start with forward Cam Atkinson and center Sean Couturier, who each missed all of last season. Atkinson has five goals and is tied for second on Philadelphia with Couturier; each has eight points (Couturier has two goals). Then there's forward Travis Konecny, who has eight goals in the Flyers' first nine games this season. I have to say I've liked their competitiveness; even in a 7-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, they kept chipping away despite being down 4-0 and 6-2. If they can start off faster and not let games get away from them, they could be a surprise team this season.

Minuses: Special teams continues to be an issue; Philadelphia is tied for 25th in the NHL on the power play (12.5 percent) and ranks 19th on the penalty kill (76.0 percent). This is after the Flyers were last on the power play (15.6 percent) and 26th on the penalty kill (74.7 percent) last season. And it does hurt them being without two of their top six defenseman in Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed) and Marc Staal (upper body).

Blues

Pluses: The offense has not been great with 13 goals in seven games, but 12 different players have scored at least one goal, so there have been contributions from everyone, with forward Brandon Saad the only player with two goals. Centers Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas are their best offensive players and I expect each of them to break out soon. And goalie Jordan Binnington has gotten off to a good start with a 2.33 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in five starts.

Minuses: It seems St. Louis is trying to redefine the type of team it is five seasons after their Stanley Cup title in 2019. It has been very inconsistent in that span and have alternated wins and losses in seven games this season. The Blues rank 31st in the NHL with 1.86 goals per game and are a League-worst 4.8 percent on the power play (1-for-21).

Avalanche

Pluses: They began the season on a torrid pace with six straight wins before 4-0 losses at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and at the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. Alexandar Georgiev has proven he is the No. 1 goalie they were looking for, Cale Makar to me is still the best defenseman in the NHL, center Nathan MacKinnon is a perennial Hart Trophy contender for League most valuable player and forward Mikko Rantanen is capable of being a 50-goal scorer every season. After losing to the Seattle Kraken in the Western Conference First Round last season following their Cup title in 2022, it appears Colorado is on a mission this season.

Minuses: The Avalanche have been shut out in two straight after outscoring opponents 27-12 in their six victories. You don't want to let that snowball into a three or four-game losing streak. Last season, they only lost three straight in regulation twice.