Pittsburgh, Pa. (WGR 550) – After missing practice on Friday because of sickness, Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato relayed that both Alex Tuch and Jordan Greenway are good to go Saturday when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Despite the Sabres beating the Montreal Canadiens, 6-1, on Thursday, they still find themselves eight points out of the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Buffalo has now won 2-of-3 games, and are facing a Penguins team they’ve done better against recently.
Buffalo is 4-4-2 against the Pens in their last 10 meetings, beating them 3-2 earlier this season in Buffalo behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s 31 saves. Luukkonen and the Sabres have also lost this season to the Penguins in Pittsburgh, 4-0.
Luukkonen holds a save percentage of .922 in three career games against Pittsburgh.
The 24-year-old will, once again, get the start after two very good games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. Overall, he’s 7-8-2 this season with a 3.13 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage.
The Sabres got the power play going for one game on Thursday, scoring two goals with the extra man in 1:29. They also gave up a shorthanded goal to the Canadiens in a winning effort.
The penalty kill was 3-for-3 on Thursday, and is 4-for-5 in their last three games.
Tage Thompson is starting to heat up, as he has five goals and four assists for nine points in his last six games.
Jeff Skinner also has nine points in his last six games.
Jack Quinn has only been back for seven games this season from offseason surgery, but has four goals and five points.
In Montreal, Granato totally changed the defensive pairs and got excellent games from five of them. I wouldn’t expect any changes there.
Buffalo is still 27th in the NHL with a points percentage of .462.
The Penguins are on quite a roll, winning 4-of-5 games and going 8-2-1 in their last 11.
Pittsburgh’s power play is only two spots ahead of the Sabres at 26th in the league, but it’s been better lately, going 10-for-44 (22.7%).
The Pens are 11-4-1 in their last 16 games against the Sabres, and 7-1-0 in their last eight against the blue and gold on home ice.
Both Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel have 14 points in their last 11 games, while Kris Letang has 13 points, which includes a six-assist game against the New York Islanders.
In 58 career games against Buffalo, Crosby has 28 goals and 54 assists for 82 points. In 52 games facing the Sabres, Evgeni Malkin has 21 goals and 47 assists for 68 points.
Tristan Jarry will be in goal for Pittsburgh on Saturday. He’s 11-11-2 this season with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
Against the Sabres, Jarry is 9-2-0 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. He’s shut them out twice, including this season in Pittsburgh.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Granato, Skinner and Rasmus Dahlin.
Losi & Gangi
