One of those defensemen will not be Henrik Tallinder, who is out tonight in place of Jamie McBain. Nikita Zadorov will look to build on his very impressive opening two games while being paired with the suddenly consistent Tyler Myers. Will the Sabres find their second win tonight in the Sunshine State? Find out tonight, as the SABRES take on the FLORIDA PANTHERS for control of 13TH PLACE in the Eastern Conference! *cue helmet explosions*
Game #12
Buffalo Sabres (1-9-1) at Florida Panthers (3-6-1)
Puck Drop – 7:30pm EST – BB&T Center – Sunrise, FL
TV – MSG | Radio – WGR 550-AM
SBNation Panthers Blog – Litter Box Cats (Please play nice if you’re going to visit.)
Three Things To Watch For
1. How will the rotation of seven defensemen work?
2. Can the Sabres find their game tonight against another poor hockey team?
Florida isn’t that much better than Buffalo this season, with just 7 points and a -13 goal differential through 10 games. We saw the Sabres perform well against a similarly bad Tampa team, so the hope would be that other terrible teams can bring out the best in Buffalo. Hey, don’t laugh, it might be all we have this year.
3. How will the highly juggled forward lines produce?
Am I the only one who kinda loves all four of these lines? It seems that Mikhail Grigorenko will finally get bigger minutes with talented forwards, and both Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford have seen big time demotions. Meanwhile, Brian Flynn could see time with Thomas Vanek and Cody Hodgson tonight, but will he be the beneficiary of them as many others have been, or just a hindrance to more talented players?
Projected BUF Lines
Vanek – Hodgson – Flynn
Foligno – Grigorenko – Ott
Girgensons – Larsson – Ennis
McCormick – Stafford
Ehrhoff – Pysyk
Zadorov – Myers
Weber- Ristolainen
McBain
Goal: Jhonas Enroth
Scratches/Injuries/Suspensions: Scott, Kaleta, Leino, Tallinder