(WGR 550) – The fans have voted Sam Reinhart as the first-ever recipient of the Rick Martin Award. Don Granato said he presented the award to Reinhart on the ice after practice.
The Rick Martin Award is designed to honor a player that best demonstrates on-ice excellence, resiliency and dedication to the community.
Friday in Pittsburgh was the Buffalo Sabres' final practice of the season. They close things out Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Granato revealed that Linus Ullmark will not be ready to play on Saturday, so the goaltender tandem will be Michael Houser and Stefanos Lekkas. Houser returned to his hometown and allowed eight goals to the Pens on Thursday.
The Sabres come into the final game with five losses in seven games. There’s a good chance that Will Borgen will return to the lineup.
Pittsburgh is trying to hold onto first place in the East Division. Before Friday’s games, the Pens have a two-point lead over the Washington Capitals. If you go by points percentage, Washington is .689 while Pittsburgh is .682.
The Carolina Hurricanes lead the NHL at .741.
Both the Penguins' goalies have minor injuries that won’t keep them out of the playoffs, but neither will play Saturday. That leaves 28-year-old Maxime Lagace. In nine games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season, he’s 4-3-2 with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.
All 17 of Lagace’s NHL games have come with the Vegas Golden Knights. He’s 6-8-1 with a 3.92 goals-against average and an .868 save percentage.
The Sabres are 1-6-0 against the Pens this season. Nobody has more than four points against the Penguins in those seven games. Victor Olofsson and Tage Thompson are the two that do have four points.
Join me, Brian Koziol, Pat Malacaro and Dan Dunleavy at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday when we begin pregame coverage on WGR with a 30-minute roundtable talking about this season.
***Photo: Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres)
