Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Jordan Greenway will make his Buffalo Sabres debut on Monday night against the Edmonton Oilers.
Greenway couldn’t play Saturday because his plane got diverted due to inclement weather.
A slight injury is going to take Tyson Jost out of the lineup, so Greenway will play left wing with Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo.
Also missing are defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Riley Stillman. Sabres head coach Don Granato says both are day-to-day, and both have issues that will resolve quickly.
Things really weren’t going Greenway’s way this year in Minnesota, so he was happy when he got the news he was traded to Buffalo.
“Excited, I was pumped," said Greenway's morning skate on Monday. "I’ve had a history with 'Donny' before, and there’s a bunch of guys on the team that I have played with or hung out previously, like, I knew before. So that makes the transition a lot easier.”
Greenway has, of course, played against the Sabres, so he has an idea of what they’re all about.
“What this team has been able to do, the direction that they’re going in, it’s something that I’m excited to be a part of," Greenway said.
“It’s just playing against them, seeing how they play, and they’ve got guys that I feel like are having career years every year. Everyone looks good out there.”
Greenway hasn’t been on the score sheet much this season, but doesn't have much of a solution as to why that is.
“You look at how I’ve been playing and maybe the production, it’s easy to say that ‘Maybe he needed something different,’" he said. "I don’t really know the answer to that (If he needed a change of scenery).”
When you play on a line with Girgensons and Okposo, it’s not going to get complicated. It’s going to be a simple, hard-nosed game. Greenway is glad to be with players that play a North-South game, and have a presence out there.
Greenway was 17-years-old when he played for Granato, but he remembers what the Sabres head coach is all about.
“He always knew how to get the players that he had to play the best," Greenway said. "He knows how to get each guy individually to go and what they need, and he cares about his players.”
Granato always is putting challenges in front of his players, and Greenway can’t wait for that to happen, because he doesn’t feel he’s reached his full potential yet.
“He was able to help me make that next step, and I think he’s seen that I haven’t been playing to who I am," said Granato of Greenway. "I think he sees something that he can help, and he can maybe take the leash off.”
The NHL’s best player will make his only appearance in Buffalo on Monday. Connor McDavid has scored 50 goals for the first time in his career, and currently has 52 goals and 70 assists for 122 points in 64 games.
McDavid has points in 41 of his last 43 games, including 10-straight games.
The Oilers are 11-4-5 in their last 20 games, but have lost three of their last five. The league’s highest-scoring team has scored five or more goals in five out of six games.
The Sabres have won six out of nine games, and most likely will have Craig Anderson in goal. Anderson is 9-8-2 this season with a 3.77 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
Tage Thompson is fifth in league scoring with 82 points in 61 games. His 42 goals are third in the league.
Monday's broadcast is set to be on ESPN+ and Hulu, so the only place to catch Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call is WGR Sports Radio 550.
Pregame coverage on WGR starts at 6:30 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Granato, Greenway and Rasmus Dahlin.
