No Sabres Celebration Lately but it’s Celebrini Time

With the games coming fast and furious, the Sabres find themselves in a sudden 3 game losing streak. They fought back to earn a point last night in Montreal but fell quickly in overtime. The good vibes of winning 6 out of 7 games before that is gone. But Buffalo has a good chance to right the ship tonight.

San Jose Sharks (16-37-9) vs. Buffalo Sabres (24-29-6)

Puck Drop: 7:00 pm Eastern Time | Keybank Center | Buffalo, New York

TV: MSG, ESPN +

Know Your Opponent

San Jose Sharks

Record: 16-37-9 | 41 PTS

Last Game: 3-2 SO win over Toronto

Division Ranking: Last in the Pacific Division, last in the NHL

PP: 19% (25th) Sabres 16.4% (27th)

PK: 75.8% (24th) Sabres 76.7% (21th)

What To Watch

1. Buffalo Shouldn’t Need a Bigger Boat

The San Jose Sharks surface in Western New York tonight for a tilt with the Sabres. Buffalo won the last meeting back in November by a score of 4-2. Alex Tuch scored one of his classic short handed goals for the game winner. The Sharks are dead last in the NHL right now but they are not without talent. Top pick Macklin Celebrini will play his first game in Buffalo. The 18 year old center has amassed 18 goals and 44 points thus far this season. He is the real deal. San Jose has another fine rookie in Will Smith. (the hockey player, not the slapper) Smith has scored a solid 10 goals and 28 points himself so far. Sharks GM Mike Grier is loading up on talent and will have another top 3 pick in this coming draft. Despite all this, there is no reason Buffalo should not handle our west coast visitors in this game. San Jose’s win total this season is shockingly still in the mid teens. There is also no excuse for the Sabres being in action last night either as the Sharks were active as well. Buffalo absolutely needs to play to their capabilities in this one and skate away with a victory.

2. Sabres Unsheathed

Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin are carrying the team right now. Tuch has single goals in each of his last four games and has been very active around the net. Even after that injury scare and being listed a game time decision a few games back. He is making a noticeable impact. Dahlin is lighting the lamp too, racking up 4 goals and 8 points in his last six contests. It’s a rarity these days when Rasmus doesn’t show up on the score sheet at the end of a game. Shout out to JJ Peterka as well. He scored his 29th and 30th assists last night and has picked up 2 goals and 6 points in his last 5 games.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Tage Thompson is scoreless in 3 of his last 5 games. He has fallen into one of his mini funks again, even with his goal last night. This team needs a little more consistency from TNT and not as much streaky play. He also has a handful of bumbles at the blueline lately, some being costly to the Sabres. Also, Peyton Krebs is scoreless in his last 5. In fact, his pointless streak stretches back way longer than that.

3.The Jaws of Defeat

No excuses in this one. The Sabres need to sink the Sharks back into the abyss. As disappointing as Buffalo has been this season, San Jose is so much worse. The Blue and Gold are deep into a never ending playoff drought as we all know. But Buffalo’s current roster and talent are well above that of the Sharks. San Jose has skated off the ice to a whopping 46 losses this season as of this writing. With some daunting competition coming up in a jam packed month of hockey, the Sabres better win the games they are supposed to. Especially after going 0 for Montreal this year. Buffalo needs to blow the Sharks out of the water tonight. In the words of the legendary Chief Brody, “Smile, you son of a bitch!”

The Sabres are putting on “Buffalo Bills Night” this evening for some reason. The game will feature giveaways and nods to the Buffalo Bills throughout the night. I’m guessing some Bills players (past and present) will be in attendance as well. So come celebrate both of Buffalo’s big league clubs that have never won a damn thing.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

JJ Peterka – Jiri Kulich – Tage Thompson
Jordan Greenway – Dylan Cozens – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Sam Lafferty

(Jason Zucker) game time decision

Defense

Bowen Byram – Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power – Jacob Bryson
Dennis Gilbert – Connor Clifton

(Mattias Samuelsson, Henri Jokiharju)

Goalies James Reimer, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (expected)

San Jose Sharks

Forwards

William Eklund – Macklin Celebrini – Tyler Toffoli
Fabian Zetterlund – Alex Wennberg– Will Smith
Collin Graf – Nico Sturm – Luke Kunin
Carl Grundstrom – Ty Dellandrea – Barclay Goodrow