Game 8

Buffalo Sabres (4-3-0) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (4-3-0)

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM EST | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY

TV: MSG

Radio: WGR 550

SB Nation Blackhawks Blog: Second City Hockey

Know Your Opponent

Chicago Blackhawks

Record: 4-3-0

Last Game: 6-5 loss to Edmonton

Division Ranking: 4th, Central Division

PP: 28.0% (6th)

PK: 76.5% (22nd)

What to Watch

1. Players to Watch

Chicago has a handful of players who are on goal, assist or point streaks to watch in tonight’s game. Patrick Kane has two goals and five assists for seven points in his last three games. Max Dome has six points (3-3) in his last four games. Taylor Raddysh and Jonathan Toews are each on three-game point streaks. It’s obviously incredibly early in the season for these streaks to mean much long-term, but there are undoubtedly a number of sharp offensive threats on this Chicago team.

2. Not-So-Special Teams

It’s early on, but the Sabres need a lot of work on their special teams. They’re just 15.4 percent on the power play, 24th in the league. Graciously, their penalty kill is better – at 79.2 percent, 15th in the league – but overall, this is one piece of the puzzle that certainly needs work as the season goes on.

3. The Rotation of Scratches

Right now, it appears that Don Granato has decided to go with a two-game rotation of scratches. It was Krebs, now Rasmus Asplund. Pulling Asplund, one of your best defensive forwards, out of the lineup didn’t look like a great decision on Thursday. In other news, Kale Clague is expected to make his debut with the Sabres on Saturday night. Before being recalled, he appeared in five games with the Rochester Americans.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch

Vinnie Hinostroza – Dylan Cozens – JJ Peterka

Jack Quinn – Casey Mittelstadt – Victor Olofsson

Peyton Krebs – Zemgus Girgensons – Kyle Okposo

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin – Jacob Bryson

Owen Power – Casey Fitzgerald

Kale Clague – Ilya Lyubushkin

Goaltenders: Craig Anderson (projected starter), Eric Comrie

Chicago Blackhawks

Forwards

Andreas Athanasiou – Max Domi – Patrick Kane

Jujhar Khaira – Jonathan Toews – Taylor Raddysh

Philipp Kurashev – Jason Dickinson – Sam Lafferty

Colin Blackwell – MacKenzie Entwistle – Reese Johnson

Defense

Jack Johnson – Seth Jones

Jarred Tinordi – Connor Murphy

Jake McCabe – Caleb Jones

Goaltenders: Alex Stalock, Arvid Soderblom