Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Sam Reinhart will play his first game in Buffalo against the Sabres on Monday since being traded to the Florida Panthers back in July.
Reinhart has already played a game against the Sabres this season in Sunrise back on Dec. 2. He scored a goal and registered three assists in a 7-4 victory for the Panthers.
The former second overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft was one of the lone bright spots for the Sabres last season, after scoring 25 goals and registering 40 points in 54 games.
This season with a much better team, Reinhart is having a career year with 52 points in 52 games. He has six goals and nine assists for 15 points in his last 11 games.
Getting back to December's contest in South Florida, the Sabres sprinted out to a 4-1 lead, only to give up six-straight goals, with the last two being scored with the Sabres' goaltender pulled.
Florida has won its last two games, but had lost three in a row before that. The Panthers are in a great race in the Atlantic Division, holding down second place just one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers are currently five points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs and seven points ahead of the Boston Bruins. Florida’s .718 points percentage has them fourth overall in the NHL.
Sergei Bobrovsky has been busy lately, playing in seven out of eight games and 11 out of 14.
The Panthers currently lead the NHL in scoring, averaging 4.09 goals per-game.
Jonathan Huberdeau has blossomed into one of the best players in the NHL. His 76 points in 55 games is just three points behind Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid for the league lead. His 58 assists leads the NHL by eight.
Considering the Panthers lead the league in scoring, it’s a little surprising their power play is ranked 14th.
The Sabres can’t afford to have a slow start, as Florida leads the league with 72 first period goals.
Buffalo worked hard on Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings, but got frustrated as the team was bottled up and had the air choked out of its game. The Kings had two empty-net goals to win 3-0 to break Buffalo’s two-game winning streak.
There were very few scoring chances in Sunday’s game. Afterward the loss, head coach Don Granato said playing Florida is totally different, as there’ll probably be more scoring chances in the first 10 minutes than in the whole game against the Kings.
Alex Tuch went shoulder-first into the post in the third period of Sunday's loss and had to leave the game. Tuch did take part in the optional morning skate, but there was no update on his status for the game.
If Tuch can’t play, Anders Bjork and Mark Jankowski are the extra forwards.
Henri Jokiharju also took part in the morning skate on Monday. He’s been out of the lineup with a lower-body injury.
It’s likely Craig Anderson will be in goal Monday night, as he looks for his 300th NHL win. Anderson has won his last two starts against Toronto and the Minnesota Wild. The 40-year-old is chasing Mike Richter for fifth in all-time wins for an American goalie. Richter has 301.
Anderson is already fifth in all-time games played for an American goalie.
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Jeff Skinner has picked up 22 points in his last 22 games.
Kyle Okposo has seven goals and nine points in his last 12 games.
Rasmus Dahlin has nine points in 11 games.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Granato, Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Asplund.
