Buffalo aiming for a return to .500 parity
Buffalo Sabres (9-10-4) vs New Jersey Devils (15-7-1)
Puck Drop: 4:00 pm Eastern Time | Keybank Center | Buffalo, New York
TV: MSG, ESPN+
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
New Jersey Devils
Record: 15-7-1 | 31 PTS
Last Game: 3-2 OT win at home against St Louis Blues
Division Ranking: 1st, Metropolitan
PP: 7th, 24.1% (14/58) [Sabres: 19th, 17.9% (12/67)]
PK: 10th, 82.4% (56/68) [Sabres: 2nd, 87.9% (58/66)]
What to Watch
1. Struggling to be mediocre
Every time the Sabres have been at a position where they are at .500 and are looking to own a winning record, they find some way to lose and drop down again. This is not new to this season, and even with a rotating cast of faces, somehow this franchise just cannot shed this pall of doom having over it.
This afternoon against the best team in the Eastern Conference, Buffalo will once again attempt to draw themselves level to a .500 standing after laying an egg in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, but one can’t help but feel that their biggest enemy is within their own heads. The Sabres are just as likely to put together a composite game and dismantle the Devils today as they are to still be asleep from yesterday’s turkey adventures and get shellacked. That is after all the hallmark of a .500 team.
2. You don’t know Jack
Everyone knows Jack Hughes of the Devils, but our own Jack Quinn is picking things up in recent games. On the second line with Jason Zucker and centered by Ryan McLeod, Quinn is on a three-game points streak with five points in that time, while Zucker has seven points in the last four and McLeod also has five in the last three. Fast, intelligent and creating chances for each other, getting that second line going is the Sabres best chance at getting goals right now.
In the last three games since that line got put together after the return of Zucker, the Sabres second line has a 32-10 advantage in scoring chances created for vs against. It will be no surprise at all to see them scoring again today.
3. Predicting the dips
The way the ‘riding the hot hand’ strategy with goaltenders should work is that the coaching staff keeps starting the best goalie until they see something in his performance indicating that a drop-off is coming, and then promptly replace him. Doing that with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is almost impossible because his game tends to drop off so quickly you won’t even see it coming. Days after an excellent showing against the Carolina Hurricanes he looked atrocious at times against the Penguins.
Meanwhile, Alex Lyon after letting in two goals on three shots against the Colorado Avalanche has not been seen again for over a fortnight. Presuming he is in the starter’s net today, hopefully he doesn’t look too rusty.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Zach Benson – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Josh Doan – Noah Ostlund – Tyson Kozak
Josh Dunne – Peyton Krebs – Beck Malenstyn
Defense
Rasmus Dahlin – Mattias Samuelsson
Bowen Byram – Conor Timmins
Jacob Bryson – Owen Power
Goalies: Alex Lyon (projected starter), Ukko Pekka Luukkonen
New Jersey Devils
Forwards
Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt
Ondrej Palat – Dawson Mercer – Arseny Gritsyuk
Paul Cotter – Cody Glass – Connor Brown
Juho Lammikko – Luke Glendening – Stefan Noesen
Defense
Jonas Siegenthaler – Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes – Simon Nemec
Brenden Dillon – Colton White
Goalies: Jacob Markstrom (projected starter), Jake Allen
