Montreal, Quebec (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres are on their dads and mentors trip, and having games on the road in Montreal on Wednesday and Columbus on Friday will likely provide a backdrop for better results.
Buffalo is 1-1-1 against the Montreal Canadiens this season, with both losses happening in Buffalo. The Sabres earned a 6-1 victory in Montreal back on Jan. 4.
The Sabres have won five of their last six games on the road, and have lost five of their last six at home.
Jeff Skinner’s family has come for many of these trips, and he says the families and mentors really enjoy the pride of being with their boys in the NHL.
"It’s pretty cool and pretty special," said Skinner following Tuesday's practice. "They sacrificed a lot for us growing up, putting us through hockey, and for them to get to see what life’s like for us at this level is always cool to share with them. So I think everyone’s going to enjoy it, and hopefully we can have a couple of good games for them."
Skinner has no goals and one assist in his last nine games, but he has feasted on playing against Montreal in his career. Since coming to Buffalo, Skinner has 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points in 16 games against the Habs.
When playing in Montreal with the Sabres, the winger has nine goals and seven assists for 16 points in six games.
Skinner has 41 career games against Montreal, and has 26 goals and 20 assists for 46 points. In the three games this season against the Canadiens, Skinner has three goals and three assists for six points.
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Sabres head coach Don Granato is a family-oriented man, and enjoys these kinds of trips for everyone.
"I know the parents have every reason to come in here and be extremely proud of their sons and grandsons, and that in itself can be energizing, and it should be," said Granato. "These guys have accomplished a lot in their careers in a very, very short time."
With their most recent success away from Buffalo, the Sabres are now 12-11-3 on the road.
With defensemen Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson out of the lineup, it’s been Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju picking up the most slack.
In five of his last six games, Dahlin has played more than 29 minutes. On the season, Jokiharju averages around 18 minutes per-game, but he’s been above that in seven-straight games, including 27:29 on Monday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Power was back at practice since missing four games with injury. He won’t play Wednesday, and likely won’t play Friday as well.
"We’ll get a gauge now, but it’s really a pain tolerance," Granato said. "You saw him take shots, and there’s only a couple of movements that give him pain, or he needs to get strength in that area. So it’s day-to-day now."
After a great start to his professional career, it’s been a real struggle for Ryan Johnson for a few weeks now.
After being on the ice for all four goals-against on Monday in Buffalo's 4-3 loss to the Ducks, Johnson is going to get a breather. That means Kale Clague will draw into the lineup on Wednesday.
After playing 25 games for the Canadiens and 11 games with the Los Angeles Kings during the 2021-22 season, Clague played 33 games with the Sabres last year and 14 with the Rochester Americans.
This is his first NHL game this season after spending 42 in Rochester, scoring three goals and 20 assists for 23 points.
Victor Olofsson isn't on the trip with the Sabres, as he has the flu.
Montreal has lost two-straight games and four out of five. They’ve only won three of their last 11 contests.
Sam Montembeault will play his first game against Buffalo this season. He’s 12-9-4 this season with a 3.21 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. In his last game, Montembeault gave up seven goals to the New York Rangers.
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is their leading scorer with 20 goals and 33 assists for 53 points in 55 games. Suzuki has points in 10-straight games, scoring eight goals and eight assists for 16 points.
The first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Juraj Slafkovsky, is starting to catch fire. The Slovak winger has points in eight-straight games, scoring six goals and six assists for 12 points.
Join the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Granato, Skinner, Power and Clague.
