Game 49
Buffalo Sabres (13-28-7) vs. New York Rangers (24-18-6)
Puck Drop: 6:00 PM EST | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY
TV: MSG-B, NESN
Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation Rangers Blog: Blueshirt Banter
Know Your Opponent
New York Rangers
Record: 24-18-6
Last 10: 6-3-1
Division Ranking: 5th in the East
PP: 14th (20.5%)
PK: 4th (84.1%)
What To Watch
1. Tokarski Back In Net
After receiving a night off to take in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s NHL debut, Dustin Tokarski will return to the starter’s crease this evening. The 2020-21 season has been a surprising one for the 31-year-old AHL journeyman.
In his last five contests as the de facto starter (with Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton both sidelined due to injury), he has performed well. In fact, last week he was named the NHL’s first star of the week.
In five of his last six starts, he’s posted a .927 or better save-percentage in five of them.
2. Standings Watch?
About a month ago, the Sabres looked like a lock to finish dead-last in the NHL standings. After Ralph Krueger’s ousting, Buffalo ahs posted a (more) respectable record of 7-11-2. Since ending their league-record 18-game losing streak, the blue-and-gold have gone 7-5-2.
As it stands, Buffalo has a very slim grasp on the last-place position. With 33 standings points, they trail the New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks by one and two points, respectively.
With just eight games remaining on the schedule, there’s a good chance the Sabres could pass a handful of teams. Draft position be darned, let with wins continue.
Projected Lineup
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Jeff Skinner – Sam Reinhart – Victor Olofsson
Rasmus Asplund – Casey Mittelstadt – Tage Thompson
Anders Bjork – Dylan Cozens – Arttu Ruotsalainen
Tobias Rieder – Riley Sheahan – Drake Caggiula
Defensemen
Rasmus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Ristolainen
Jacob Bryson – Colin Miller
Starting Goalie: Dustin Tokarski
New York Rangers
Forwards
Alexis Lafreniere – Mika Zibanejad – Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin – Ryan Strome – Colin Blackwell
Chris Kreider – Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko
Kevin Rooney – Brett Howden – Vitali Kravtsov
Defense
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Brendan Smith
Libor Hajek – Zac Jones
Starting Goalie: Igor Shesterkin