In comparison, scoring in Champions League play dropped to 2.76 goals per game last season.
The Sabres ranked 17th in the NHL in goals per game (2.6) and 26th in goals against (3.3).
But it remains a long shot given that Barcelona has scored an average of 4.4 goals per game at home this season.
This was, after all, the same offense that had averaged just 1.3 goals per game at even strength before Saturday, the lowest rate of any team in the playoffs.
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And while the Spanish side scored at a higher rate (0.4 more goals per game) and both teams have conceded at about the same rate, Bayern's defensive record this season is second-to-none.
In the past three seasons, Europa League teams have produced an average 3.3 goals per game in the quarterfinal round and beyond, compared with 2.8 per game scored in the Champions League.
The number of scored in Europa League games has risen steadily in each of the past five seasons, from 2.55 goals per game in 2007-08 to last season's average of 2.85 goals per game.
Right wing Dainus Zubrus's 16 goals are the most he's scored in five years, and the Devils' rate of 2.57 goals per game through Saturday was the 17th-best in the league, a precipitous jump from where they had been.
It is a similar situation in defence, where a series of injuries and dip in form have seen the team's goals-conceded-per-game average in all competitions increase from 0.59 to 1.56 either side of the Manchester United game.
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Martin Jol's side, who have scored 102 goals at an average of three per game, have won 13 games in a row, but Twente find themselves on top thanks to a steady season in which they, like Ajax, have lost only twice.
Hamilton, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2011 draft, had five goals and 11 assists this season while averaging about 17 minutes per game.
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