So Close You Can Taste It
Buffalo Sabres (46-21-8) at Ottawa Senators (38-26-10)
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM | Canadian Tire Center | Ottawa, Ont.
TV: MSG-B, ESPN+
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Ottawa Senators
Record: 38-26-10 | 86 PTS
Division Ranking: 5th in the Atlantic Division
Last Game: Lost 6-3 vs Florida
PP: 11th (22.4%) | Sabres 15th (21.4%)
PK: 30th (74.5%) | Sabres 5th (81.7%)
What to Watch
1. First Chance to End the Misery
The Sabres have another opportunity to sweep yet another team this season if they defeat the Senators tonight. They beat Ottawa 8-4 way back in October then edged them in overtime right before Christmas by a 3-2 score. Bowen Byram had the OT winner for Buffalo in that one. The Sabres have actually rattled off six straight wins over the Sens, sweeping all four games from them in 2024-25.
Buffalo has a good chance at the Atlantic Division title right now and even the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres must continue to win as much as possible to achieve one or both of those goals. They still have Tampa Bay breathing down their necks, Montreal is making a huge surge and even Boston is forging a late push as well. Meanwhile, Carolina is tied with Buffalo in points at 100 each but the ‘Canes have a game in hand. Lindy Ruff’s group will need to lay it all on the line in these last two weeks to set themselves up as best as possible.
But first things first. With a win tonight against Ottawa, the Buffalo Sabres 14 year playoff drought will officially COME TO AN END! The burden we all carry around with us every day will finally be lifted. Did you ever think you would see the day again? The Blue and Gold would clinch a post season berth for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Some of us have gone through 6 or 7 cars since then or seen their child grow up from a newborn to a teenager. The RELIEF that it is finally ending will feel so good for the city, the fans and the organization, yet there is a bigger picture here to consider. Buffalo is not just sneaking into the post season after all these years. This amazing Sabres team will have a real chance to go deep in the playoffs, dare I say all the way. No matter when they clinch, that has to be the shift in focus, gunning for the damn Stanley Cup.
2. Injury Updates
As everyone saw, Sam Carrick sustained a left arm injury in a fight with Anders Lee and didn’t finish the game on Tuesday. He could be in line to miss an extended stretch of time, depending on further testing and evaluation of his injury. Carrick had five goals and six points in 13 games with the Sabres with a couple of fights. He quickly became a fixture in Lindy Ruff’s lineup and a fan favorite too with his determined play. Thankfully, the Sabres have plenty of players ready to take his place. Tyson Kozak, Josh Dunne and Tanner Pearson are all capable and bring similar attributes, to a varying degree. (solid defense, grit, physicality, work ethic) But it’s doubtful any of those three will be chipping in with timely goals like Carrick has been doing.
UPDATE: As of this morning, Sam Carrick was not on the ice for practice in Ottawa. Neither was Noah Ostlund. Josh Dunne took Carrick’s place, centering Jordan Greenway and Beck Malenstyn. Looks like Ruff is going with a heavier 4th line to start. It is good to see Dunne back, who always works his tail off. Meanwhile, Ostlund’s “day to day” prognosis has passed the full week mark. Remember, he was listed as “possible” to play three games ago.
After practice, Ruff said Carrick is week-to-week and he’s not ruling him out to come back at some point. (post season)
For Ottawa, they are hurting on defense. They have a total of four defenders out of the lineup, including Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot.
3. Nice game Norris
Lost in the mayhem of Josh Norris getting his face rearranged on what looked like a clear penalty was the nice offensive game he had. The hit from behind, the no penalty and the fight between Anders Lee and Sam Carrick is what people will remember. The non call with the poor officiating ultimately led to Carrick getting injured while falling to the ice. But some good came out of the game for Josh and the team, (besides the win) him getting back on the scoreboard. Twice.
While the points have been hard to come by lately for Norris, (especially the goals) he had two primary assists that led the way for Buffalo against New York. First, he fed Jack Quinn along the blueline for his slick goal after that battle along the wall to keep the puck in on the power play. Then he made a casual looking pass to Tage Thompson, (again with the man advantage) recognizing TNT had just enough space between four defenders to rip a shot off. Both dishes were good, smart plays and very needed points for Norris who was scoreless in four straight games before that. Even with the two apples against the Islanders, that is only four points for Josh in his last ten games. (1 goal, 3 assists) He has fallen off his near point per game pace from earlier in the season, now with 27 points in 37 games. (10 goals, 17 assists) At least his defensive game has remained strong, as he is +4 in his last ten games. He also continues to backcheck well and works hard on the boards while providing hustle and good coverage.
Hopefully Norris starts finding the back of the net more often and gets in a groove before the playoffs start. It sure would be helpful if he got one or two today against his old team in Ottawa.
Note: It looks like we will see Luukkonen against Ullmark in net.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Krebs – Thompson – Tuch
Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
Benson – Norris – Doan
Greenway – Dunne – Malenstyn
Defense
Samuelsson – Dahlin
Power – Byram
Stanley – Metsa
Goalies: Luukkonen, Lyon, Ellis
Ottawa Senators
Forwards
Batherson – Stutzle – Giroux
Tkachuk – Cozens – Greig
Cousins – Pinto – Amadio
Foegele – Eller – Zetterlund
Defense
Kleven – Zub
Matinpalo – Thomson
Spence – Yakemchuk
Goalies: Ullmark, Reimer