Salt Lake City, Utah (WGR Sports Radio 550) - It was just eight days ago that Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan got to play against the Utah Mammoth and their old teammates in Buffalo.
Now on Wednesday, they get the opportunity to do it in Salt Lake City.
Kesselring is happy to be back, but says he got used to going against his friends pretty quickly.
"It was weird at first, but honestly I felt pretty comfortable pretty quick," Kesselring said following Wednesday's morning skate. "It was more giggling at some of those guys as they were coming down on me, so I’m excited to play them again tonight."
Kesselring knows he hasn’t played well in his six games since coming back from a knee injury. He knows he needs to improve all aspects of his game.
"It’s everything. I haven’t been very good, so it’s been getting comfortable with the knee and keep growing, learning the system, getting comfortable with new teammates. It’s time to get going," Kesselring acknowledged. "I’m comfortable enough now, so I’ve just got to get my legs moving, be simple, be heavy, and the rest of my game will take off from there."
In 82 games last season, Kesselring had seven goals and 22 assists for 29 points. He can boom a shot just as hard as Tage Thompson can, and said the offensive is going to come for him.
"I’ve had a few Grade-A [chanes], and I know if I get enough of those looks, I’m going to score on them. I’m not too worried about the offense," Kesselring said.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff wanted to get the team to Salt Lake City a day early so they could settle in and practice on Tuesday. There’s also elevation to get used to.
As for Josh Doan, he has enjoyed being back in Salt Lake City.
"It’s been nice seeing some former teammates, and people you’ve worked with the past couple of years," said Doan after the morning skate. "I’ve gotten the chance to check out some spots from last year, so it’s been nice to come back for the past couple of days."
The Sabres opened their four-game road trip with a 6-3 loss in Carolina to the Hurricanes on Saturday. They’re the only team in the NHL that hasn’t won on the road (0-3-2), and they now have the worst record in the Eastern Conference, four points out of a playoff spot.
Buffalo has lost three in-a-row, and have just one win in seven games. If they drop the final three games on this trip, they could find themselves too far back to recover.
Kesselring certainly understands the urgency this team faces.
"There’s no excuses in our locker room. We’ve got to find ways to win hockey games," he said. "I think it’s simple and direct. We have a lot of skill, so our skill is going to take over if we play our systems the right way, and play hard and are comfortable in low scoring games. We’ve had enough time to start figuring it out, and we need to buckle down here."
Colten Ellis will play in his second NHL game. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 22, making 29 saves on 31 shots in a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Buffalo’s power play has gone ice cold, going 0-for-9 in the last four games and 3-for-28 in the last 10 games. That has dropped them to 24th in the league.
The Sabres still lead the league in penalty killing at 89.6%. They’ve only given up two goals down a man man in the last five games, killing 12-of-14 penalties.
No team in the NHL has done more damage to the Sabres than Utah. Not only have the Mammoth beaten the Sabres, 2-1, but they’ve lost 5-of-6 games around that win. Four of those losses have come to the Sabres' Eastern Conference foes the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.
After Karel Vejmeka slammed the door against the Sabres, Utah has given up 15 goals in their last three games.
Vejmelka is 7-4-0 this season with a 2.91 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage, while Vitek Vanecek is 2-3-0 this year with a 2.85 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage.
Both goaltenders are Sabres killers. Vanecek is 12-2-1 in his career against Buffalo with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage, while Vejmelka is 5-2-1 with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage.
JJ Peterka has hit the skids, going pointless in his last five games. Overall this season, he’s scored four goals and added six assists for 10 points in 16 games.
Nick Schmaltz leads Utah with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 16 games.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 8 p.m. when you’ll hear from Ruff, Kesselring, Doan and Ryan McLeod.
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