Game #22
Buffalo Sabres (8-12-1) at New Jersey Devils (10-6-4)
Puck Drop – 3:00pm – First Niagara Center – Buffalo, NY
TV – MSG, MSG Plus | Radio – WGR 550-AM
Devils Blog – In Lou We Trust (Please play nice if you’re going to visit.)
In lieu of trying to project the lines for this afternoon’s matinee game, here are some notes before puck drop.
– Thomas Vanek will be out of the lineup tonight with an upper body injury according to Ron Rolston. Vanek may play in Sunday night’s game against the Rangers. Marcus Foligno will be slotting in Vanek’s spot and Bryan Flynn will make his debut today as well. John Scott will be out of the lineup.
– While missing Vanek is going to be big for the Sabres, in his career he has struggled against the Devils with just 8 goals and 3 assists in 28 games.
– The Sabres are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games against the Devils and 3-5-2 in their last 10 vs. Devils at home.
– If the Sabres lose today, it will be their first four game home losing streak since October 15 – November 5, 2010.
– The Devils have lost three straight games, with their last being a 3-1 loss to Winnipeg on Thursday night.
– Johan Hedberg will get the start for the Devils as Martin Brodeur is still on the injured reserve and not slated to return for a few more days.
– According to Tom Gulitti, Ryan Carter will return to the Devils lineup after missing four games with a concussion.
– Against teams he has played more than 15 times, Ilya Kovalchuk has the best career scoring rate against the Sabres with 23 goals in 37 games. Overall, he has averaged almost a point per game against Buffalo with 36 points.