Sabres Compete Making Them More Complete
Buffalo Sabres (9-9-4) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (10-6-5)
Puck Drop: 7:00 pm Eastern | PPG Paints Arena | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TV: MSG, ESPN+
Know Your Opponent
Pittsburgh Penguins
Record: 10-6-5 | 25 PTS
Division Ranking: 5th in Metropolitan Division
Last Game: 3-2 OT loss to Seattle
PP: 32.0% 1st (Sabres 17.9% 20th)
PK: 85.2% 4th (Sabres 87.7% 1st)
What to Watch
1) Team Efforts
We have seen some of the best Sabres’ hockey in some time lately, complete team efforts and convincing victories (pay no attention to that Calgary game behind that curtain). The top players are playing like it (Tage, Tuch, Dahlin) and the role player are rolling (Beck, Krebs, Dunne, Kozak).
Moreso, Jack Quinn is playing pretty well this past week. He seemingly has turned a corner and has been very noticeable. Meanwhile, Josh Doan is playing like a top six player, scoring, grinding on the walls and going to the net. He is having much more success than many anticipated from him. The reinforcements have been a real shot in the arm too (Benson, Zucker) and have contributed right away.
And what can you say about Sammy? He has been the surprise Sabre of the season so far. Not only is he defending well and playing physical, he is somehow scoring at a very unSamuelsson-like clip. He has 5 goals, 11 points so far and is a team best +9. Great stuff from Mattias.
The key word for this team lately has been consistency. Lindy Ruff’s team has shown flashes of it which has led to 4 wins in 5 games. The thing with consistency though? You need to take it to another level to be a real winner in this league. You need to be consistently consistent. Buffalo will have to unlock that level of gameplay if they hope to crawl back into having serious playoff aspirations.
2) Troublesome Tuxedo Birds
Pittsburgh took 2 out of 3 games from Buffalo last season and has shut the Sabres out 4 times since 2021. Evgeni Malkin (39 years old) and Sidney Crosby (38 years old) continue to lead the Pens. These black and gold(en) oldies are still relevant at their ages but time is certainly winding down on them. And for the Penguins as a whole. They have the oldest team in the league and the top five scorers on the roster are all on the wrong side of 30. Including three who are 35 or older. Not a recipe for sustained success.
The Penguins’ surprising start this season is due to their special teams. They are 1st with the man advantage and 4th in the penalty kill. That one-two punch carries the team most nights. Buffalo’s top PK will be put to the test. The Sabres need to stay even with Pittsburgh on special teams and maybe win this game 5 on 5. The Pens are overachieving so far but this is a game the Sabres could and should win. Especially with the team-wide efforts we have been seeing. Buffalo needs to climb over that .500 hump and stay there. Then slowly creep up the standings, taking 3 of every 5 at least.
3) News and Notes
Right now, Tage Thompson is earning his money, with goals in six straight games. That is a career high for the man with a submarine sandwich named after him. With a solid 8 goals and 13 assists so far, Alex Tuch and TNT are tied for team points at 21. Rasmus Dahlin leads Buffalo with 15 assists but is stuck on just 1 goal for the year. Ryan McLeod has been chipping in more lately and has 13 points in 22 games. Jason Zucker has an impressive 11 points through his injury shortened 14 appearances.
Jordan Greenway missed the Carolina game and it looks like we won’t see him again until after Thankgiving. “With the hernia surgery that he’s had, and he had a couple of them, just strength-wise he’s not in a good enough place.” head coach Lindy Ruff said. “We’ve talked about it for a couple weeks now – how can we get you stronger, how can we get you faster?” It sounds to me like Jordan may be in and out of the lineup depending on the Sabres’ schedule and his strength level. Ruff continued, “We’ve kind of put a plan together, just basically a load management plan where maybe he can lift for three days, build up strength, play a game, not worry about back-to-backs, play every three or four days and let’s see if we can get you to a lot better place.” This no doubt explains the complaints from fans of Greenway looking slower this season.
Josh Norris was a participant at practice on Tuesday and could make his return as soon as this weekend. His recovery is ahead of schedule as he was originally forecast to return in mid December. Ruff said “I wouldn’t rule that out.” when pressed about a Norris return on Friday or Saturday. If he isn’t ready, Buffalo next plays Winnipeg at home on Monday, Dec 1st.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Josh Doan – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Zach Benson – Noah Ostlund – Tyson Kozak
Josh Dunne – Peyton Krebs – Beck Malenstyn
Defense
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Jacob Bryson – Owen Power
Bowen Byram – Conor Timmins
Goalies: Ukko Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon, Colten Ellis
Pittsburgh Penguins
Forwards
Connor Dewar – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Kevin Hayes – Evgeni Malkin – Anthony Mantha
Tommy Novak – Ben Kindel – Sam Poulin
Joona Koppanen – Blake Lizotte – Danton Heinen
Defense
Ryan Shea –Kris LeTang
Parker Wotherspoon – Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves – Matt Dumba
Goalies: Arturs Silovs, Sergei Murashov
