Ottawa, ON (WGR 550) - Since there was no morning skate, it's not known if the Sabres have sustained another injury on defense. Zach Bogosian couldn't play in New Jersey and Matt Hunwick isn't even on the trip.
Lawrence Pilut was recalled and played against the Devils on Monday. On Tuesday morning, Will Borgen was summoned from Rochester.
Borgen has never played a NHL game in this, his first pro season. The 22-year-old played three years at St. Cloud State before signing with Buffalo. He is a tough to play against, stay at home defenseman who won't wow you with his offensive numbers. Borgen has played 66 games in Rochester, scoring two goals and 10 assists for 12 points.
Since Linus Ullmark played in New Jersey, I would guess that Carter Hutton would get the call in Ottawa since it's a back-to-back situation. Hutton this season is 17-22-5 with a 2.95 goals-against and .909 save percentage. Hutton is 2-8-1 in his last 11 games.
Since beating Columbus out of the All-Star break, the Sabres have lost 12 straight on the road, going 0-10-2. Their road record now stands at 11-21-5.
Jeff Skinner had six shots in New Jersey and many of them were great scoring chances. I haven't seen a drop in his play at all, but Skinner has just one goal in his last 18 games.
After losing 10-of-11 games and 13-of-16, the Sens have done a little better lately. Ottawa has won 3-of-5 with victories over St. Louis, Toronto and Edmonton. The losses were in Vancouver and Calgary.
Craig Anderson came back from injury and lost 13 straight games before beating the Oilers. Anderson will play against the Sabres. He's 15-25-4 with a 3.54 goals-against and .902 save percentage.
The Senators traded away much of their scoring before the NHL Trade Deadline, so defenseman Thomas Chabot is now their leading scoring with 13 goals and 37 assists for 50 points.
Rookie Brady Tkachuk leads them in goals with 19. The kid has five goals in his last seven games. Tkachuk was the fourth overall pick last June, while, of course, Rasmus Dahlin was No. 1.
If you look at the top-four picks, Dahlin has 41 points, Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov has 36 points, Montreal's Jesperi Kotkaniemi has 33 points and Tkachuk has 39.
The Sabres come into the game with 71 points, while the Sens have 58. The two teams have only played twice this season, with Senators winning in Ottawa 4-2, and the Sabres ripping the Sens in Buffalo 9-2.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for the pre-game starting at 6:30 when they'll be joined by Phil Housley and hopefully Jeff Skinner and Will Borgen.
