Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Sabres practiced in Buffalo on Saturday before leaving for St. Louis to play the Blues on Sunday.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson was given a maintenance day by head coach Lindy Ruff from practice, and expects him to play Sunday in St. Louis. However, forward Nic Aube-Kubel is sick and his availability is questionable.
Buffalo has a two-game winning streak, and it’s because they’ve tightened up their defending and puck management by a lot. Samuelsson has looked like his old self in the eight games since returning from injury.
"Pretty well at everything. Penalty killing’s been good. I think puck movement, getting involved offensively. I’ve really liked his physicality down low. He’s been a new player since coming back," said Ruff following Saturday's practice.
Jack Quinn has four goals in five games, and is starting to look like himself for the first time all season. Ruff says there are reasons why, including his fitness.
"It’s something he’s been working hard on, the fitness part of his game, the explosive part of his game. When you look at back-to-back sometimes, it was a situation where we wanted to put fresh bodies in. I think his work away from the ice has really paid off," he said of the young winger. "His quickness now, his jump, he looks like he’s getting close to being where we need him to be a real effective player."
Until Friday’s win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sabres hadn’t won at home since Nov. 14 when they beat the Blues, 4-3.
In that game, the Sabres had a 2-1 first period lead, only to fall behind 3-2 in the second. Alex Tuch tied the game with 7:03 left, and Rasmus Dahlin won it in overtime with a power play goal.
St. Louis has won two games in-a-row, but has lost 3-of-5 games. They started Saturday 19th in the NHL with a .514 points percentage.
Now with Jim Montgomery behind the bench as head coach in St. Louis, Ruff is expecting a different Blues team this time around.
"I know they’ve got a really talented top line. You got [Pavel] Buchnevich and [Robert] Thomas, you’ve got some guys that can really go up and down the ice. We really have to be aware of their rush game, and I think their power play is dangerous, too," Ruff said. "We’re looking at a little different animal than I think the first time we played them, where I think they can be more dangerous offensively right now."
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Since being hired by the Blues, Montgomery is 7-4-3 as head coach in St. Louis.
The Sabres are 17th in the NHL, averaging 3.03 goals per-game, while the Blues are 26th at 2.62 goals per-game.
We’ll be watching two of the lesser power plays in the NHL, and two penalty kills that aren’t that great either.
Jordan Binnington just recently had a 19-save shutout in Detroit against the Red Wings. Then on Friday, backup Joel Hofer stopped 26-of-30 shots in a 7-4 win over the Nashville Predators.
Despite missing 12 games, Thomas is the Blues' second-leading scorer with eight goals and 20 assists for 28 points in 25 games.
Jordan Kyrou has 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points in 37 games.
Join Brian Koziol for Sunday’s pregame coverage at 2 p.m. EST on our sister station WBEN News Radio 930. There, you willll hear from Ruff, Quinn, Dahlin and Zach Benson.