Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) - With Marco Scandella out two-to-three weeks with a lower body injury and Brendon Montour not quite ready to return from a hand injury, John Gilmour is finally getting his opportunity to play for the Sabres. The 26-year-old was a healthy scratch for the first 11 games because Buffalo was playing well and didn't have an injury on the back-end.
When he did get in against Detroit, Gilmour played 17:28 and was part of a team shutout. He didn't look rusty at all, and Ralph Kruger said there was a reason for that, "What he brought every single day to his practice sessions was amazing, like staying out, begging for more and what an example he has been for a player that didn't play for that long and still kept himself in A-shape and A-form, but a lot of it had to do with his attitude."
Gilmour will play his second game tonight against Arizona. He said, "It's a credit to the coaching staff, they kept me ready on the ice with pretty rigorous conditioning and I'm here day-to-day practicing with the club and being around the club. So it's easy to be a part of this group."
Last season, Gilmour only got five games in with the Rangers, while playing 70 in the AHL with Hartford. That has made him hungry to be a part of this team. His confidence showed in Detroit and he said it's all in the preparation, "It's just staying focused, practicing hard, watching every game attentively and trying to learn and get better every day through that."
Jimmy Vesey has an upper-body injury and is considered week-to-week by the Sabres.
Jack Eichel is sixth in league scoring with 16 points in 12 games. Victor Olofsson has cooled off with no goals in his last five games.
Tonight's game features two of the top-nine teams in the NHL. Buffalo is second with a points percentage of .792, while the Coyotes have gone 6-1-1 after an 0-2 start and are ninth in the league with a points percentage of .650.
In the last two games, goals have not come easy for the Sabres as they've only scored four. Since the middle of the Montreal game, the Sabres power play has gone 5-of-32. That's just 15.6%. Despite that poor production, the Sabres are still third overall with the extra man at 28.9%.
The penalty killing has been perfect the last three games, going 9-for-9. Buffalo is now 14th overall.
Even though Linus Ullmark had a 41-save shutout in Detroit, Carter Hutton gets the net tonight. Hutton is 6-1-0 with a 2.27 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.
Buffalo's goalies are fourth in the league with a .923 save percentage, but Arizona's netminders are second at .927.
Darcy Kuemper has a save percentage of .934 in seven games. His goals-against average is 1.88.
Arizona brought in Phil Kessel from Pittsburgh and he's only scored goals in one game. Overall, Kessel has six points in 10 games.
Clayton Keller got a big contract in the offseason and he scored his first goal of the season in their last game against New Jersey.
Nick Schmaltz leads Arizona in scoring with four goals and seven assists for 11 points. The Coyotes have won 5-of-6 games and have scored five goals in three of their last five games.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for the Paul William Beltz Pre-Game Show starting at 6:00 live from (716) Food and Sport. They'll be joined by Krueger, Gilmour and Conor Sheary.
