Buffalo Sabres (11-12-4) at Winnipeg Jets (13-12-1)
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM | Canada Life Centre | Winnipeg, MB
TV: MSG-B
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Winnipeg Jets
Record: 13-12-1 | 27 PTS
Division Ranking: 6th in Central Division
Last Game: 3-2 Shootout Loss vs Canadians
PP: 12th (21.8%) | Sabres Rank: 21st (17.3%)
PK: 7th (83.0%) | Sabres Rank: 2nd (87.0%)
What to Watch
1. You Again?
The Sabres face the Jets for the second time this week. Considering cross conference play is limited to a single home-and-home series each year, it’s highly unusual to see the same non-conference opponent twice in the same week. This means that Buffalo’s beatdown of Winnipeg is fresh in the Jets player’s minds. The Jets had a players-only meeting after their defeat in Buffalo on Monday. They will have extra motivation to redeem themselves. The Sabres will need to neutralize their adrenaline-fueled surge early on and be ready to counterattack if they can weather the storm.
2. Keep Them Down
The Jets may be motivated to avenge Monday’s loss, but they have been struggling mightily in the last few weeks. They are 1-5-1 in their last 7 with their only victory in that time being a 5-1 win against the 30th ranks Preds. This is a team reeling that Buffalo needs to take advantage of. It’s been a story of this season for the Sabres to have disappointing losses against “weaker” opponents. Hopefully, they take this opportunity to change that trend.
3. I’m Sorry Old Friend
With the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winning goalie Connor Hellebuyck out for weeks due to knee surgery, the Jets have turned to our old pal Eric Comrie to cover the net. The Sabres were unkind to their out netminder on Monday when they chased him out after scoring 3 goals on 14 shots. Comrie has a chance to redeem himself and is coming off a bounce-back performance against Montreal where he saved 31 out of 33 in the Shootout loss. We’ve seen him play well before but know his subpar lateral movement can be exploited. Buffalo should try to get him moving East-West to create scoring chances. If they do, the man some on Twitter have called “Eric from accounting” will be dealing with an error rate that exceeds materiality (I apologize for the accounting joke, these opportunities don’t come often).
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Benson – Norris – Thompson
Doan – Ostlund – Tuch
Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
Greenway – Krebs – Malenstyn
Defense
Samuelsson – Dahlin
Byram – Timmins
Power – Bryson
Starter: Luukkonen
Winnipeg Jets
Forwards
Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi
Namestnikov – Toews – Perfetti
Niederreiter – Lowry – Iafallo
Koepke – Barron – Pearson
Defense
Morrissey – DeMelo
Samberg – Pionk
Stanley – Salomonsson
Starter: Comrie
