Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Eric Comrie knows what it’s like to go long stretches in-between starts in goal. For the first time this season, Comrie will get the call for the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday when they host the New York Islanders.
Comrie last played 24 days ago in Pittsburgh for a preseason game against the Penguins, where he played 58:45 and stopped 27-of-29 shots in a loss.
Sabres head coach Don Granato says both rookie goalie Devon Levi and rookie forward Zach Benson were just a little sore and probably could play if they had to. However, he felt both could benefit from taking a breath and watching for a game.
It’s something Granato likes to do from time-to-time with young players. He did the same with Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Peyton Krebs at points last season. Dylan Cozens also went through the same deal during his rookie season.
Levi has played the Sabres' first four games of the season, going 1-3-0 with a 3.26 goals-against against and an .892 save percentage.
Comrie understands what it's like being a backup and sitting for long stretches during a season.
In the 2021-22 campaign with the Winnipeg Jets, Comrie was one of the best backup goalies in the National Hockey League backing up Connor Hellebuyck. However, Hellebuyck played 66 games that season, while Comrie only got 19, where he went 10-5-1 with a 2.58 goals-against average and a sparkling .920 save percentage.
Granato said that's what makes Comrie a good fit for what he's looking for in net.
"His experience being a backup to Connor Hellebuyck, when you don’t get a lot of games and there’s a lot of time in-between games, Comrie fits for this because it’s not just we kept three goalies, it’s who are the three goalies we kept," said Granato on Saturday.
"Comrie is very acclimated to this, because this has been his entire career playing in this. I do feel very comfortable in Eric’s preparation."
Comrie agrees that being the backup in Winnipeg has prepared him to be ready on Saturday after not playing for over three weeks.
"Actually quite a bit, because it was the year after COVID but we also got shut down because of COVID again in Canada, so we actually went a long time without playing a game," said Comrie on Saturday. "I remember in December, we had like a two-week stretch there when we didn’t play many games. We didn’t want to have no fans in the building, so we kind of pushed the season back. We got pushed back, so even then I think I went almost a month-and-a-half without playing a game. I think, for myself, it’s just making sure I stayed ready in practice."
Last March, Comrie stopped all 22 shots he faced in a 2-0 shutout of the Islanders.
Jeff Skinner scored an empty-netter, meaning at the other end, Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves on 34 shots faced.
Varlamov is also playing in his first game of the season on Saturday, as Ilya Sorokin played in Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils.
With Benson sitting out, Victor Olofsson is back in the lineup. He’ll play with Tyson Jost and Peterka.
Rasmus Dahlin has four points in four games, and leads the Sabres in scoring.
Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri have four points to pace the Islanders.
The Sabres have done a lot to improve their penalty kill this season, going 15-of-16 for 93.8%. That’s currently fifth in the NHL. The Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins have so far been perfect on the season.
The Islanders are ranked 31st in the league at 60%. The Devils went 4-for-5 on the power play on Friday against the Isles.
The power play is a different story, as Buffalo is just 1-for-13 (7.7%), which is 27th overall. New York is not much better, ranked 23rd in the league at 12.5%.
The "goathead" sweaters are back for another season. Last year, the Sabres went 10-1-1 wearing those jerseys and averaged almost five goals per-game.
Join Brian Koziol for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. ET when you’ll hear from Granato, Comrie, Cozens and Erik Johnson.
