Chicago, Ill. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres are back on the road on Tuesday to face the Chicago Blackhawks. Tuesday marks three games in four nights in three different cities. It is also Buffalo’s seventh game in 11 days.
Jake McCabe wanted to leave the Sabres organization after six seasons of being the worst team in hockey. The veteran defenseman thought he’d find greener pastures by going home to play for the Blackhawks.
This year is his second season in Chicago, and the Blackhawks are now the worst team in the NHL.
The Blackhawks are actually on a mini-streak, winning three of four games. Before that, they had lost 13 out of 14 games.
Tuesday closes out a seven-game homestand for the Hawks.
Buffalo has a very good 12-7-0 record on the road. The Sabres have won nine of their last 11 road games. As you know, they’ve struggled mightily at home and just barely got by the Blackhawks in October. Victor Olofsson had given the Sabres the early lead, but Buffalo trailed 3-1 midway through the third period. Tage Thompson went to work scoring two goals to tie it and Olofsson won the game in overtime on a power play.
Craig Anderson stopped 23-of-26 shots in that game. With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen playing on Monday, Anderson could start on Tuesday.
Luukkonen has been sent back to the Rochester Americans with Peyton Krebs being called up. Krebs will play after being out for two games.
Thompson is in a mini-slump with no goals in five games. He went four games without a goal very early in the season.
With 11 goals in five games, the Sabres are no longer the highest scoring team in the NHL. Boston leads scoring 3.81 goals per-game while the Sabres are second at 3.79. At the other end, they’ve given up four or more goals in six out of seven games.
Someone that is scoring is Olofsson with four goals in six games. Jeff Skinner has just one goal in nine games.
Buffalo’s power play is still fourth in the NHL at 27.1%, but in the five games where they’re 1-4-0, they’ve only gone 2-for-17. One of those goals did come in the win at Nashville.
Alex Stalock was supposed to start in goal for Chicago, but he’s been placed in concussion protocol. That means Jaxson Stauber has been called up from the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League. The Hawks signed the 23-year-old last summer after he played two seasons at Providence College.
Petr Mrazek is 3-10-1 this season with a 4.26 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage.
All season long, the talk has been about when Chicago might trade their aging stars in Pat Kane and Jonathan Toews. Kane has eight goals and 20 assists for 28 points in 38 games while the captain has 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points in 40 games. Kane has six points in his last seven games.
Max Domi is Chicago’s leading scorer with 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points in 41 games.
Just a reminder that it’s Ryan Miller night on Thursday, as he gets his No. 30 retired and goes into the Sabres Hall of Fame. The team asks that you be in your seats by 5:50 p.m. EST with the ceremony starting at 6 p.m. EST.
Join Brian Koziol and myself on Tuesday for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 7:30 p.m. EST, when you’ll hear from Don Granato and players.
