Game 9

Buffalo Sabres (5–2–1) vs. San Jose Sharks (5-3-0)

Puck Drop: 10:30 PM | SAP Arena

TV: ESPN+ and Hulu

Radio: WGR 550

SB Nation Sharks Blog: Fear the Fin

Know Your Opponent

San Jose Sharks

Record: (5-3-0)

Last Game: 2-1 OT win over Winnipeg

Division Ranking: 3rd in the Pacific Division

PP: 22.2% (14th)

PK: 83.3% (15th)

What to Watch

1. Missing Pieces on Both Sides

Both teams are missing a few players for tonight’s game. For Buffalo, Victor Olofsson suffered a soft tissue injury in practice earlier this week. Casey Mittelstadt remains out with an upper-body injury, and of course, Henri Jokiharju still suffers from a lower-body injury.

The Sharks, meanwhile, have several players in COVID-19 protocol: Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, Erik Karlsson, Jacob Middleton, Matt Nieto, Radim Simek and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Additionally, Nikolai Knyzhov (upper body) and Jeffrey Viel (finger) are also out.

2. Two Years Later...

This is the first meeting between the Sabres and Sharks since October 22, 2019. Only five Sabres players who took part in that game are slated to be in tonight’s lineup. Five!

3. Starting Off on the Right Foot

After the Sabres started off the season on a good footing, they’ve now lost the last two games heading into the month of November. Tonight’s game kicks off an incredibly busy month for Buffalo, with 14 games in 28 days.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner - Dylan Cozens - Vinnie Hinostroza

Rasmus Asplund - Tage Thompson - Drake Caggiula

Zemgus Girgensons - Cody Eakin - Kyle Okposo

Anders Bjork - Arttu Ruotsalainen - John Hayden

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin - Will Butcher

Jacob Bryson - Colin Miller

Robert Hagg - Mark Pysyk

Starting Goaltender: Craig Anderson

San Jose Sharks

Forwards

William Eklund - Logan Couture - Jonathan Dahlen

Alexander Barabaranov - TomasHertl - Rudolfs Balcers

Andrew Cogliano - Nick Bonino - John Leonard

Lane Pederson - Jasper Weatherby - Nick Merkley

Defense

Mario Ferraro - Brent Burns

Nicolas Meloche - Santeri Hatakka

Jacob Megna - Ryan Merkley

Starting Goaltender: James Reimer