Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – After two-straight games of playing teams with a smothering defense and All-Star goalies, the Buffalo Sabres will get ready to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.
Buffalo only has three goals in two games, with none coming from Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner, Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin or Dylan Cozens. Casey Mittelstadt and Zach Benson are the team’s leading scorers with two points in two games.
Victor Olofsson did not look good in the first two games, and Tyson Jost will take his place in the lineup. That means Peyton Krebs will move to right wing with Cozens and JJ Peterka, while Jost will center Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo.
Here's a look at the projected lines for Tuesday:
Forwards:
Skinner - Thompson - Tuch
Peterka - Cozens - Krebs
Greenway - Mittelstadt - Benson
Girgensons - Jost - Okposo
Defense:
Dahlin - Samuelsson
Power - Jokiharju
Clifton - Johnson
Devon Levi will get his third-straight start in goal for Buffalo. He’s 0-2-0 with a 3.55 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage.
Tampa Bay has scored 11 goals in their opening three games of the season, but have allowed 14 goals-against.
With Andrei Vasilevskiy out, at least, two months following back surgery, the Lightning are going with former Sabres goalie Jonas Johansson and Matt Tomkins in goal. Both have a goals-against average of over 4.00 and save percentages under .893.
In their last game, the Lightning were without captain Steven Stamkos with a lower-body injury.
Veteran defenseman Victor Hedman is pacing Tampa Bay offensively with five points, while Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov each have four.
Tuesday night's game is a radio only broadcast with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6:30 p.m. ET when you’ll hear from head coach Don Granato, Levi and Skinner.
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