Just the facts
When: Tonight, 7 PM
Where: KeyBank Center - Buffalo, NY
How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Rival SBN site: Die by the Blade
Know your enemy
- 7-9-2, 16 points, 6th place in the Atlantic
- Tage Thompson: 8G-5A-13PTS; Rasmus Dahlin: 3G-9A-12PTS; Rasmus Asplund: 5G-6A-11PTS; Victor Olofsson: 5G-6A-11PTS; Colin Miller: 2G-9A-11PTS
- Dustin Tokarski: 3-4-2, 3.39 GAA, .900 save percentage
Game notes
- The Sabres continue to kind of hang around, as they’ve shown improvements over recent years and haven’t fallen off the map yet. It’s early, but they’re only two points behind the Bruins in the standings (albeit with three more games played).
- Buffalo has lost three games in a row, the latest a 7-4 loss to the Blue Jackets on Monday.
- Scoring hasn’t been an issue in the last two games for Buffalo, with the Sabres recording four goals in each game yet losing both.
- Goaltending and defense continue to be Buffalo’s biggest issues, as the Sabres have allowed 23 goals in their last five games. The Sabres have allowed the fifth-most goals per game in the league so far this season (3.39).
- We all know how the Bruins’ last game went, as Sunday night’s effort against Calgary was one of their poorest performances in recent weeks. Blip on the radar or a sign of a problem? Time will tell!
- Bruce Cassidy is shuffling things up on defense, at least to start the game. Mike Reilly and Jakub Zboril will remain together on the third pairing, but Cassidy will reunite Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk on the first line and move Derek Forbort down to the second pair.
- Cassidy resisted the urge to switch things up with his forwards at practice today, icing the same group as Sunday night.
- Linus Ullmark will start in net tonight, which makes sense following the “every other game” cadence Cassidy has been using. It also makes sense given Swayman’s uneven performance against Calgary. If Ullmark plays well tonight, it’d be interesting to see if Cassidy goes back to him on Friday.
See ya tonight!
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