Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) - After playing four out of six games on the road, the Buffalo Sabres finally get four in a row at home against the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.
It starts Tuesday against New York, which is the only team the Sabres are ahead of in the East Division.
At 2-3-1, Buffalo has five points, while the Rangers are 1-3-1 for three points. The New York Islanders have six points, while the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and New Jersey have seven. The Pittsburgh Penguins have eight points, and seven out of the Washington Capitals’ nine points have come against the Sabres.
Henri Jokiharju didn’t take part in the Sabres' morning skate. Ralph Krueger called the defenseman day-to-day, and that the injury is very minor. Krueger did say Jokiharju would be assessed before the game, but there’s a potential that he won’t play.
If he doesn’t play, Matt Irwin will get his first game in a Sabres uniform.
Linus Ullmark will get his third straight game in goal. Ullmark is 1-1-1 with a 2.55 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. Carter Hutton will be his backup after missing two games with a head injury. Jonas Johansson was placed back on the taxi squad, while Dustin Tokarski and Rasmus Asplund were sent to Rochester.
Dylan Cozens has been recalled from the taxi squad, while Casey Mittelstadt is going back to the taxi squad.
Krueger thought it would be best to give Cozens a game off Sunday in Washington. He said they spent time working with the rookie.
“Don Granato worked with him on the tactical side. I had a longer chat with him to be clear about wanting him to watch the game from the educational side and to understand the offense of the National Hockey League,” Krueger said.
“It’s clear that we trust him defensively, and he’s really surprised everybody with a very responsible and mature defensive game. But he needs to figure out how to breakdown the defensive strength of the opposition, and also how to use his linemates better.”
After a good game on Sunday, the Sabres are now 10th in the NHL on the power play, but are 26th in penalty killing. If Irwin plays Tuesday, that should help the PK a lot.
With no goals, Jack Eichel has now fallen to 13th in league scoring with seven points. His seven assists are two behind NHL leader Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings.
Rasmus Ristolainen will play his 500th NHL game on Tuesday. The 26-year-old defenseman joked with the media, at first, when asked about the significance of playing 500 NHL games.
“I guess it means I’m getting old and have been around for awhile,” Ristolainen said. He added, “I haven’t had too much success, so I’m extremely hungry and eager to get some wins and be in the playoffs this year.”
Ristolainen has also gotten off to a great start this season being paired with Jake McCabe.
“I think we’ve been working extremely hard and we’ve played together in the past, so that helps a lot and I feel like we have a good chemistry,” Ristolainen said.
The top overall pick on the 2020 NHL Draft makes his first appearance in Buffalo on Tuesday. In five games with the Rangers, Alexis Lafreniere is still looking for his first NHL point.
It was announced before the Rangers took the ice for their morning skate that center Filip Chytil will be lost 4-to-6 weeks with an upper-body injury.
Alexandar Georgiev gets the start in goal for New York. He’s 1-1-0 with a 2.40 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. He’s played well in his three career games against the Sabres.
The Rangers are 21st in the NHL on both the power play and penalty kill. New York’s problem is they’re 23rd in league goal scoring, averaging 2.60 goals per-game. The Sabres are 18th at 2.83.
Buffalo is second in the NHL averaging 34.8 shots per-game, while the Rangers are 4th at 33.2.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when they’ll be joined by Krueger, Ristolainen and Irwin.
