Game #63
Buffalo Sabres (26-26-10) vs. Nashville Predators (31-22-9)
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. EST | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY
TV: MSG, FS-TN | Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation’s Predators Blog: On The Forecheck
Three Questions
1. What’s going on in net tonight?
We get to repeat this question since the Sabres did not announce a starting goaltender tonight. Even money is on Linus Ullmark, who was first off the ice after the morning skate, and with Robin Lehner still nursing an upper body injury and Anders Nilsson in trade talks, we’re guessing Ullmark.
2. Can anyone stop Jack Eichel or Filip Forsberg?
Jack Eichel is quietly having a great season statistically, and has 21 points in his last 20 games, and he’s now just three points off the team lead despite playing in 20 fewer games than current leader Kyle Okposo. Not to be outdone, Nashville’s Filip Forsberg recently scored eight goals in four games, including two hat tricks, and was named the NHL’s first star of the week last week. It’ll be exciting to watch these two young guns go head to head tonight.
3. Will anyone get traded before the game starts?
This is the Sabres final game before tomorrow’s trade deadline, and it’s never too late for GMTM to make some deals. After all, we found out about the Ryan Miller trade while sitting in the press box about an hour before the game started. With a few defensemen already off the market, expect interest to pick up in Dmitry Kulikov and Cody Franson, though Dan Bylsma won’t be making any lineup changes based on potential trade bait.
Projected Buffalo Lines
56 Justin Bailey — 90 Ryan O’Reilly — 21 Kyle Okposo
9 Evander Kane — 15 Jack Eichel — 12 Brian Gionta
82 Marcus Foligno — 71 Evan Rodrigues — 23 Sam Reinhart
26 Matt Moulson — 28 Zemgus Girgensons — 63 Tyler Ennis
29 Jake McCabe — 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
77 Dmitry Kulikov — 47 Zach Bogosian
4 Josh Gorges — 6 Cody Franson
Goal: 35 Linus Ullmark