Game 1

Buffalo Sabres (0-0-0) vs. Montreal Canadiens (0-1-0)

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

TV: MSG-B

Radio: WGR550

SB Nation Canadiens Blog: Habs Eyes on the Prize

Know Your Opponent

Montreal Canadiens

Record: 0-1-0

Last game: 2-1 loss vs. Toronto

Division Ranking: 7th in the Atlantic Division

PP: 9th (0.0%)

PK: 10th (66.7%)

What To Watch

1. Welcome Back, Welcome Back

The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens will face off for the first time January 30, 2020 in tonight’s game. That’s perhaps one of the things I’m most excited for this season, personally: being able to see other teams again, including our friends north of the border. Last season was odd in so many ways, but only playing a small group of teams got kind of boring, right? It’ll be nice to see other teams and other players again, and starting with Montreal is a great way to kick things off.

The Sabres have six new players on this season’s opening-night roster, including Mark Pysyk, who’s returning for his second stint in Buffalo. He’s joined by centers John Hayden and Vinnie Hinostroza; defensemen Will Butcher and Robert Hagg, and goaltender Craig Anderson.

2. Ready for Business

Tonight’s game kicks off a busy half-month for the Sabres; it’s the first of eight games for Buffalo in what remains of October. Five of those games are home – including four consecutive to start – so we’ll see if the team can feed off any energy at KeyBank Center to open the season on a high note.

3. Montreal’s Loss

The Habs opened their season with a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, so they’re heading to Buffalo looking to rebound for their first win of the season. Jonathan Drouin had Montreal’s lone goal, while Jake Allen stopped 28 of 30 shots faced.

For more on the Habs and how they’re looking heading into the season, be sure to check out Ryan Wolfe’s preview from earlier this week.

Projected Lineup

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner – Casey Mittelstadt – Vinnie Hinostroza

Drake Caggiula – Dylan Cozens – Anders Bjork

Rasmus Asplund – Tage Thompson – Victor Olofsson

Zemgus Girgensons – Cody Eakin – Kyle Okposo

Defensemen

Rasmus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju

Jacob Bryson – Colin Miller

Robert Hagg – Mark Pysyk

Starting Goalie: Craig Anderson

Montreal Canadiens

These were the lines for Wednesday’s game. Some changes may be expected!

Forwards

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Joel Armia – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher

Mathieu Perreault – Cedric Paquette – Artturi Lehkonen

Adam Brooks – Alex Belzile

Defense

Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry

Ben Chiaro – David Savard

Alexander Romanov – Chris Wideman

Sami Niku

Starting Goalie: Samuel Montembeault