Buffalo Sabres (25-33-6) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (39-19-7)
Puck Drop: 12:30 PM EDT | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY
TV: MSG-B
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Vegas Golden Knights
Record: 39-19-7 | 85 PTS
Division Ranking: 1st in the Pacific
Last Game: 4-0 win over Columbus
PP: 29.0% (2nd) – (Sabres 16.9%, 27th)
PK: 76.7% (21st) – (Sabres 76.0%, 23rd)
What To Watch
1. King of the Hill
On Friday, the Golden Knights announced the signing of goaltender Adin Hill to a six-year extension with an AAV of $6.25 million. Hill is fresh off his fourth shutout of the season, a 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets a few days ago, and is searching for his 25th win of the season. He’s top ten in the league in wins and save percentage (.906) and has a 2.53 goals-against average with a 24-11-4 record.
2. Avoid the Box
The Sabres’ lackluster penalty kill, combined with Vegas’ stellar powerr play (which is second-best in the NHL) is a lethal recipe. Saturday’s game is already going to be an uphill battle given how strong the Golden Knights are, but the Sabres can make it a little easier for themselves by staying out of the penalty box.
3. Tage
Tage Thompson enters Saturday’s game on a two-game point streak, with three goals and an assist in his last two games. He has seven points – including six goals – in his last seven games, dating back to March 3. Safe to say he’s a critical piece of Buffalo’s offense, and nice to see him continually producing like this.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Zach Benson – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jordan Greenway
Peyton Krebs – Jiri Kulich – Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn – Tyson Kozak – Sam Lafferty
Defense
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power – Connor Clifton
Bowen Byram – Jacob Bryson
Goaltenders
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, James Reimer
Vegas Golden Knights
Forwards
Tanner Pearson – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Brandon Saad – Tomas Hertl – Pavel Dorofeyev
Victor Olofsson – Nicolas Roy – Reilly Smith
Ivan Barbashev – Brett Howden – Keegan Kolesar
Defense
Nicolas Hague – Alex Pietrangelo
Noah Hanifin – Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb – Kaedan Korczak
Goaltenders
Adin Hill, Ilya Samsonov