Sabres Visit Red-Hot Flames

Late Friday night tilt won’t be an easy one for Buffalo.

Game 62

Buffalo Sabres (20-33-8) vs. Calgary Flames (37-16-7)

Puck Drop: 9:00 PM EST | Scotiabank Saddledome | Calgary, AB

TV: MSG-B

Radio: WGR 550

SB Nation Flames Blog: Matchsticks and Gasoline

Know Your Opponent

Calgary Flames

Record: (37-16-7) | 81 PTS

Division Ranking: 1st in Pacific Division

PP: 11th (23.4%)

PK: 4th (85.4%)

What to Watch

1. A New Flame

Calle Järnkrok is expected to make his Calgary debut tonight, after being traded by the Seattle Kraken earlier this week. The 30-year-old center has 26 points on the season, including 14 assists. He appeared in 49 games with the Kraken. Nearly 1/5th of his points this season have come on the power play.

Seattle received three draft picks in the deal: a second-rounder in 2022, a third-rounder in 2023 and a seventh-rounder in 2024.

2. Looking to Avoid a Repeat

The Sabres and Flames last met on November 18, when Calgary shut out Buffalo 5-0. Dustin Tokarski took the L that night after allowing five goals on 23 shots faced in 40 minutes of play. Aaron Dell also played 10 minutes.

Andrew Mangiapane and Johnny Gaudreau each had a pair of goals. Matthew Tkachuk also scored, and Jacob Markstrom recorded the 27-save shutout.

The Sabres seem to be a different team nowadays than they were back then. Exactly five months later, they’ll look to avoid a repeat of that night in November.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch

Peyton Krebs - Dylan Cozens - Vinnie Hinostroza

Rasmus Asplund - Casey Mittelstadt - Victor Olofsson

Zemgus Girgensons - Cody Eakin - Kyle Okposo

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin - Henri Jokiharju

Mattias Samuelsson - Jacob Bryson

Robert Hagg - Mark Pysyk

Colin Miller

Starting Goaltender: Dustin Tokarski

Edmonton Oilers

Forwards

Johnny Gaudreau - Elias Lindholm - Matthew Tkachuk

Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Trevor Lewis

Andrew Mangiapane - Calle Järnkrok - Tyler Toffoli

Milan Lucic - Sean Monahan - Dillon Dube

Defense

Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson

Oliver Kylington - Chris Tanev

Nikita Zadorov - Erik Gudbranson

Starting Goaltender: Jacob Markstrom