Game #20

Buffalo Sabres (9-9-1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (8-8-2)

Puck Drop: 10:00 PM EDT | Honda Center, Anaheim

TV: SN, TVAS, Victory+, MSG-B, KCOP-13, ESPN+

Know Your Opponent

Anaheim Ducks

Record: 8-8-2 | 18 PTS

Last Game: 3-2 win at the Blackhawks

Division Ranking: 7th, Pacific

PP: 27th, 15.3% (9/59 opps) [Sabres: 18th, 18.6% (11/59 opps)]

PK: 31st, 68.8% (33/48 killed) [Sabres: 18th, 78.8% (52/66 killed)]

What to Watch

1. Riding the Hot Hand?

Now what should the Sabres do in goal? Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen continues to play mostly at an elite level, going back to about a year ago. Buffalo have three games in four days on this California jaunt, with UPL already registering a shutout at the Kings on Wednesday. Will James Reimer make his long awaited debut, possibly in the easier fixture of the remaining pair which would mean he starts tonight?

2. Mighty Ducks?

While Anaheim might be a .500 team just like the Sabres, they are on a three-game winning streak and will be returning to home comforts at the Honda Center after winning both games of a short trip to the middle of the country, beating Dallas 4-2 and then Chicago 3-2 on back-to-back nights.

Second line winger Troy Terry leads the team with 12 points (6G, 6A) while top line center Leo Carlsson is second with 10 points (6G, 6A).

3. T-N-T

Speaking of top line centers, the Sabres leading scorer is earmarked to return tonight, and boy have they missed him so. Buffalo has seven goals in their last three games, and have a season average of 3.21 which puts them in 13th place. Tage Thompson is four goals behind Alex Ovechkin and Sam Reinhart with 15 so far, but is perfectly capable of scoring in bunches.

He’s been dominant when he’s on the ice, and is at 20th in SAT% with 58%, behind a host of Hurricanes who are having an incredible season with ten players in the top 21. His 21.6% shooting average doesn’t feel sustainable, especially when it’s far higher than the 15.9% he registered in the breakout season that saw him end the season at 94 points.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

JJ Peterka – Ryan McLeod – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Dylan Cozens – Sam Lafferty
Jason Zucker – Jiri Kulich – Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Nicholas Aube-Kubel

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin – Bowen Byram
Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson – Connor Clifton

Goalies: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, James Reimer

Anaheim Ducks

Forwards

Trevor Zegras – Leo Carlsson – Alex Killorn
Frank Vatrano – Ryan Strome – Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier – Isac Lundestrom – Brett Leason
Ross Johnston – Jansen Harkins – Sam Colangelo