(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres will attempt to build on their win on Tuesday in Vancouver when they face off Thursday in Calgary against the Flames.
Back in November, the Sabres beat the Flames at home, 3-2, in a shootout. Buffalo blew a 2-0 first period lead, with Mikael Backlund tying the game with 4:18 left.
JJ Peterka scored the only shootout goal against Dan Vladar to win it for Buffalo.
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Buffalo is 7-5-1 in its last 13 games, but they’re still solidly in last place in the Eastern Conference.
Rasmus Dahlin hasn’t scored a goal since Nov. 23, covering 18 games. However, he does have 15 assists in his last 13 games.
Jason Zucker missed Tuesday’s game because of illness. He has eight goals and six assists for 14 points in his last 13 games.
Tage Thompson is hot once again, with points in four-consecutive games. He has five goals and nine assists for 14 points in his last 13 games.
Buffalo enters the game 27th in the NHL on the power play, while Calgary is 30th on the penalty kill.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had an excellent game against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, making several big saves when his team needed one. His best save of the night came against Conor Garland as the horn sounded to end the game.
When all was said and done, Luukkonen stopped 32-of-34 shots.
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It’s interesting how Luukkonen is having very good games in every other start lately. He had a 35-save shutout in Ottawa against the Senators, followed by five goals-against on 28 shots in a home loss to the Seattle Kraken. Luukkonn then was rock-solid, stopping 35-of-37 shots in a win over the Carolina Hurricanes, followed by four goals-against on just 18 shots-against in a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The next game was the stellar performance in Vancouver.
Take those five games and Luukkonen is 3-2-0 with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
This season, Luukkonen is 15-14-4 with a 2.99 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage.
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Calgary comes in leading the Canucks and St. Louis Blues by one point for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. The Flames are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games, but have lost 7-of-12 games.
Dustin Wolf has been in goal a lot for Calgary lately. He’s played 6-of-7 games, and is much better overall than Vladar, going 16-7-2 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.
The 23-year-old was the Flames' seventh-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Jonathan Huberdeau leads Calgary in scoring with only 32 points in 45 games. He’s also their leading goal scorer with 18.
The Flames have been without Anthony Mantha for 31 games due to a lower-body injury. He's expected to miss the remainder of the season following knee surgery.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 8 p.m.