Buffalo Sabres (17-24-5) vs. Vancouver Canucks (20-15-10)
Puck Drop: 10:00 PM EST | Rogers Arena | Vancouver, BC
TV: MSG
Know Your Opponent
Vancouver Canucks
Record: 20-15-10 | 50 PTS
Last Game: 3-2 win over Edmonton (Jan. 18)
Division Ranking: 5th in Pacific
PP: 21.9% (Sabres: 18.1%)
PK: 80.3% (Sabres: 76.9%)
What to Watch
1. Roster Moves
Earlier today, the Sabres reassigned goaltender Devon Levi to the AHL’s Rochester Americans. They recalled forward Tyson Kozak. It’s unclear if Levi is actually going back to Rochester right now, or if he’s staying up with the Sabres for the rest of their road trip, to give them some roster flexibility. (His demotion opened the roster spot for Kozak.)
Jason Zucker is ill and questionable for tonight’s game, so we’ll have to wait until warmups to see for sure what the lines look like.
2. Recent Struggles
The Sabres come into tonight’s game on a two-game losing streak. Tonight’s game is also the second half of a back-to-back, but head coach Lindy Ruff put the team through a full practice this morning after a performance last night that he wasn’t happy with.
According to Sabres.com, Ruff said: “We need to learn and take game day to learn to compete around the front of the net. Yesterday wasn’t acceptable.”
3. No Myers
Former Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers will miss tonight’s game, as he begins to serve a three-game suspension. Myers received a match penalty, and subsequent three-game suspension, for cross-checking Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard this past Saturday.
Infamously, Oilers superstar Connor McDavid was also suspended three games as a result of his own actions in that game. That will keep him out of the lineup on Saturday when the Sabres come to Edmonton.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Jason Zucker – Jiri Kulich – Tage Thompson
JJ Peterka – Dylan Cozens – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Peyton Krebs – Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn – Sam Lafferty – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense
Rasmus Dahlin – Bowen Byram
Owen Power – Mattias Samuelsson
Jacob Bryson – Connor Clifton
Goalies: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, James Reimer
Vancouver Canucks
Forwards
Jake Debrusk – Elias Pettersson – Brock Boeser
Pius Suter – J.T. Miller – Conor Garland
Danton Heinen – Teddy Blueger – Kiefer Sherwood
Nils Hoglander – Max Sasson – Phil Di Giuseppe
Defense
Quinn Hughes – Mark Friedman
Carson Soucy – Filip Hronek
Derek Forbort – Vincent Desharnais
Goalies: Thatcher Demko, Kevin Lankinen