Ottawa, Ontario (WGR Sports Radio 550) - With the second half of the 2024-25 season starting Thursday in Ottawa against the Senators, this becomes a very important four-point game for the Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres are seven points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and have to leap over eight teams to get there. One of those teams is Ottawa.
Buffalo trails the Sens by six points, and Ottawa has two games in hand on the Sabres. Head coach Lindy Ruff knows the goal has to be to win in regulation, giving the Senators no points.
"We’re a team that’s got to move up the ladder, and these are the teams that you have to beat," said Ruff following Thursday's morning skate. "You know how far they are ahead of you, and you know how much it means to win a game like tonight."
Buffalo has only won one of its last four games, going 1-2-1. But only in the NHL can you have a negative record and a positive record.
In their last seven games, the Sabres are 4-2-1.
Back in early November, the Sabres beat Ottawa, 5-1.
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In his last eight games, Jason Zucker has seven goals and 10 points.
Tage Thompson has nine points in his last seven games.
Rasmus Dahlin has 10 assists in seven games, but doesn’t have a goal in 12 games.
The Sabres are coming off a very strong outing against the NHL’s No. 2 team on Monday night. Buffalo beat the Washington Capitals, 4-3, in a shootout, and were never behind in the game.
Buffalo is 8-of-19 on the power play lately, but the team is still 24th overall at 18.3%.
The Sabres have killed 12 of their last 14 penalties, with one of those goals coming while down 5-on-3. Their PK is now 21st at 77.8%.
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Ottawa had a great stretch where they won 8-of-9 games, but recently it’s gone South, with losses in 5-of-6 games.
Goaltending injuries haven’t helped, as Linus Ullmark hasn’t played a full game in seven contests. Anton Forsberg was also out for five games.
Ullmark is still out, as are Travis Harmonic, David Perron, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Mike Amadio.
Forsberg has played the last two games and given up seven goals. This season, he’s 4-7-1 in goal with a 3.03 goals-against average and an .888 save percentage.
Tim Stutzle leads the way for Ottawa with 41 points in 39 games.
Captain Brady Tkachuk has 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points in 39 games.
Tune in during "Schopp and the Bulldog" for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 7 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Ruff, Thompson and Tyson Kozak, who will definitely play with Malenstyn, Jiri Kulich and Jordan Greenway out.