Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres play on back-to-back nights Friday, and will also be in their third game in four nights, as the Washington Capitals are in town.
Buffalo had its five-game points streak snapped on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.
Arttu Ruotsalainen will make his NHL debut on Friday, as he comes off the taxi squad. Steven Fogarty will be transferred to the taxi squad. They still will have to dress seven defensemen, meaning Matt Irwin plays again.
Ruotsalainen had five goals and eight assists for 13 points during his 13 games in Rochester. Before arriving here for training camp, he played in Finland, netting 16 goals and 11 assists for 27 points in 19 games with Ilves-Tampere.
Dustin Tokarski gets the start in net.
Last time out, he stood on his head making 44 saves in an overtime loss to the New York Rangers. This season, Tokarski is 0-3-1 with a 3.79 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. In his career against Washington, Tokarski is 1-0-1 with a 1.86 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.
We’ve spoken a lot about how almost the whole team has improved under Don Granato, and Henri Jokiharju is at the top of the list. I thought when Granato paired him with Rasmus Dahlin, it would be a huge mistake, because both youngsters had struggled all season long. Boy, was I wrong, as it’s worked out beautifully.
The young defenseman credits that pairing as to why he’s played better.
“When I got together with Rasmus, it’s so much easier to play," Jokiharju said on Friday. "We read off each other, so I think both of us can play better hockey. That’s helped me a lot, because I can have the puck a little bit more and we’re making good plays out there and having fun.”
I remember seeing Jokiharju and Dahlin at the dry erase board together going over certain situations. Jokiharju said that relationship helps.
“We talk a lot about what we want to do on the ice in different situations, so when it happens on the ice, we know how to react.”
Dan Girardi has been given credit for helping the defensemen be better. Jokiharju said he can relate to him.
“He helps a lot with PK [penalty kill] stuff and defensive zone, and he’ll tells us to just go out and play and not worry about too much.”
Granato coached Jokiharju when he was an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Sabres interim head coach liked him then, as well.
“I’m working from the base that we felt we had and the messaging to all of our players, and in this case Jokiharju," Granato said. "You’re trying to get him comfortable with what you’d expect from him within our system and keep it simplified.”
Having coached Jokiharju in Chicago is coming into play here too.
“I feel that’s really helped," Granato said. "That trust that we’ve been in it together before, but he’s doing it. He feels more comfortable, the game feels more comfortable.
“He’s reading situations that he sometimes would’ve thought it was a random situation, and now it’s a consistent situation and a familiar situation.”
Washington comes in with four losses in six games, but against Buffalo this season, the team is 5-0-1.
The recent losing has put them two points behind the first place New York Islanders in the East Division. The Capitals are two points in front of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Nick Backstrom has eight points in those six games against Buffalo, and Vitek Vanecek is 4-0-1 with a 1.55 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage.
Backstrom is 14th in league scoring with 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points in 40 games.
Alex Ovechkin has 20 goals in 36 games, which is fifth in the league.
Join the Bulldog at 6 p.m. ET for pregame coverage on WGR when he’ll be joined by Granato, Jokiharju and Colin Miller.
