Buffalo hosts struggling St. Louis
St. Louis Blues (4-8-2) vs. Buffalo Sabres (5-4-4)
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM EST | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY
TV: MSG-B
Know Your Opponent
St. Louis Blues
Record: 4-8-2 | 10 PTS
Last Game: 6-1 Loss vs. Washington Capitals
Division Ranking: 8th in Central Division
PP: T8th (25%)
PK: 28th (67.6%)
What to Watch
1. Let’s Get Physical
Historically soft and lacking in the grit department, the Sabres find themselves on the other side and surprisingly fun to watch these days (now, if they could only stop losing in overtime…but I digress). The days of failing to stick up for each other are long gone. When our goaltender gets charged, someone steps in. When a defender gets hit along the boards, retaliation ensues as it should in the best hockey way. This is one of the puzzle pieces that the team has been missing for what feels like decades. Fan favorites that have been on the team for years, like Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin, have no problem stepping in to get more physical. However, it is the newcomers that have stood out in this young season so far: Mason Geersten, Michael Kesselring, and Conor Timmins have all thrown their bodies around be it for fun or on behalf of a teammate and I think I speak for all fans when I say I hope it never stops.
2. Bring in the Young Guns
Buffalo faced some unexpected injury news recently with Jason Zucker and Jiri Kulich – both out with non-injury-related illnesses – which forced the team to recall some familiar faces. Promising young forward Noah Ostlund – who only just made his NHL debut this past April – arrived in the Queen City Tuesday to face Utah and made the trip even sweeter by scoring his first NHL goal.
Another teammate that just recorded his first NHL goal in the same week? Isak Rosen, of course. Before being called up, Rosen had himself an October with the Americans. The Swedish winger tallied five goals and seven assists in just eight games with the club. He also contributed an assist on Ostlund’s goal on Tuesday, showing no signs of slowing down and giving Sabres fans a bit of hope for the future offense.
The addition of these two, together on the same line, has been a recipe for success thus far and it will be interesting to see what tonight and the rest of the season brings as they are called upon more and more.
3. Wait, Are We Really Good at Something?
While the Sabres still need to improve their ongoing power play issues, they have at least been thriving on the penalty kill. Thriving may actually be an understatement (I know, I find it hard to believe, too) as they are currently the best in the league at 90.9%. With Mattias Samuelsson healthy (hopefully for the long haul) and Timmins being a positive acquisition for the team, other seasoned Buffalo players like Alex Tuch and Jordan Greenway now have some extra help on the PK and they have made a huge difference. Fans should expect to see this continue, especially at home with some extra motivation from the crowd.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards*
Jordan Greenway – Tage Thompson – Jack Quinn
Josh Doan – Ryan McLeod – Alex Tuch
Peyton Krebs – Noah Ostlund – Isak Rosen
Mason Geersten – Josh Dunne – Beck Malenstyn
*Tyson Kozak participated in morning skates this week following a brief lower-body injury and may be back on the ice tonight, so the lineup may be shuffled around a bit.
Defense
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power – Conor Timmins
Bowen Byram – Michael Kesselring
Goaltenders: Colten Ellis, Alex Lyon, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (confirmed)
St. Louis Blues
Forwards
Pavel Buchnevich – Brayden Schenn – Jimmy Snuggerud
Mathieu Joseph – Dalibor Dvorsky – Jordan Kyrou
Dylan Holloway – Pius Suter – Oskar Sundqvist
Alexey Toropchenko – Nick Bjugstad – Nathan Walker
Defense
Philip Broberg – Colton Parayko
Cam Fowler – Justin Faulk
Tyler Tucker – Matthew Kessel
Goaltenders: Joel Hofer (expected), Jordan Binnington