Following a west coast road trip that netted a 1-3-0 record, the Buffalo Sabres return home to KeyBank Center to face the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night in Downtown Buffalo.
The Sabres return home after a trip to California and Seattle that saw Buffalo lose three-straight games after opening the trip with a win in Anaheim over the Ducks. Buffalo suffered losses last Sunday to the Los Angeles Kings, on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks, and most recently a loss Thursday in the team' first matchup with the Seattle Kraken.
After the win over Anaheim to get the Sabres to 5-1-1 through seven games this season, Buffalo now sits at 5-4-1 through 10 games, which is good enough for fourth place in the Atlantic Division behind just the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.
As for the Red Wings, they currently sit tied for fifth in the division standings with a 4-5-2 record in 11 games played to this point. They are tied with Boston with 10 points, but the Bruins still have three games in-hand on Detroit.
The last time the Sabres and Red Wings met was back in February of 2020 with Buffalo earning at 3-2 win at KeyBank Center. That night saw goals for the Sabres come from Marcus Johansson, Sam Reinhart and Conor Sheary, while Carter Hutton made 27 saves on 29 shots faced to earn the victory in goal. All four of those players are no longer on the Buffalo roster.
The Sabres have played very well against their Atlantic Division rival over the last several matchups, earning wins in 11 of the last 15 matchups. Buffalo's record in that span has been 11-2-2, while Detroit has gone 4-8-3.
At Saturday's morning skate at KeyBank Center, the Sabres were without goalie Craig Anderson, who last played in Tuesday's loss to the Sharks. When asked of his absence, head coach Don Granato said the 40-year-old veteran is dealing with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Granato believes what Anderson is dealing with is something very short-term that does not require him to be added to injured reserve.
With Anderson unavailable for the Sabres on Saturday, the team announced the call up of Aaron Dell from the Rochester Americans. The 32-year-old has only appeared in three games for the Amerks this season, serving primarily as a backup to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, posting a 3-0-0 record with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
In a corresponding move, the Sabres re-assigned forward Brett Murray to the Amerks. He only played in one game with Buffalo during his recent call up with the Sabres.
Granato did not confirm after the morning skate who would start in goal on Saturday between Dell and Dustin Tokarski. Tokarski last played in Thursday's 5-2 loss to the Kraken, but it would not be surprising to see him get the start again against Detroit.
Buffalo was also without forwards Victor Olofsson and Casey Mittelstadt for practice on Saturday.
Olofsson still remains out of the lineup on Saturday with his "soft-tissue injury" sustained while out west in California. However, it appears as though the 26-year-old is close to a return, as indicated by Granato.
"Some encouraging news from the last couple of days. So encouraging that we will hold him out tonight, because we don't want to screw with the progress he's made," Granato explained. "We think it will be resolved within the next few days to where he'll be full go, rather than having it re-aggravated and lingering for an extended period of time."
As for Mittelstadt, there seems to be no telling when the 22-year-old will return to the lineup. Granato said he skated a couple of times while the team was on their western road trip and was making progress in his recovery. However, the head coach would not put a timeline on when Mittelstadt could possibly be back skating with his teammates.
Here is how the lines could look heading into Saturday's matchup:
Forwards:
Skinner - Thompson - Asplund
Caggiula - Cozens - Hinostroza
Girgensons - Eakin - Okposo
Bjork - Ruotsalainen - Hayden
Defense:
Dahlin - Butcher
Bryson - Miller
Hagg - Pysyk
Wolanin
As for Zemgus Girgensons, Saturday will mark the 500th game of his career in the NHL, all spent with the Sabres. He says it means a lot to him being able to suit up for that long at the world's top level.
"That's a lot of games," Girgensons said with a laugh after Saturday's morning skate. "It's definitely a long time. I've had a couple times now where I thought I would get to 500 [games, if not for] the [COVID-19 pandemic] and then I missed a season. It's nice to get to that point."
In the previous 499 games in his career with Buffalo, the native of Latvia has produced well with 64 goals and 80 assists for 144 points. The Sabres drafted Girgensons with the 14th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft after having a pair of successful seasons in the United States Hockey League with the Dubuque Fighting Saints.
While nine years has already passed between now and the first game Girgensons played in the NHL, he says he remembers that game vividly, and for good reason.
"I remember scoring that [first] goal. That's something that's hard to forget," Girgensons said. "It wasn't a great game [against Detroit]. I remember it was me, Brian Flynn and [Mikhail] Grigorenko as a line, and right away we got, I think, [Pavel] Datsyuk and our first shift we got pinned in our zone for a while. That was definitely not the start I thought, but at the end of the game, I scored, which was great."
Although Girgensons' time with the Sabres has mostly been one filled with losing and seasons ending no where close to playoff contention, he says he can't imagine being anywhere else but in the Buffalo blue and gold.
"It's an honor to just be part of the Buffalo Sabres for that long of a period," Girgensons said. "Being with one team means a lot to me. I don't want to be anywhere else, so it means a lot."
As for the Red Wings, they come to town after a 5-1 road defeat at the hands of the Bruins on Thursday night in Boston. It was Detroit's fourth-straight loss on the schedule.
Detroit was without the services of captain Dylan Larkin on Thursday as he missed the game due to a personal matter. Head coach Jeff Blashill says Larkin is not expected to play on Saturday in Buffalo, as he continues to deal with his personal issue.
The 25-year-old has gotten off to a decent start to his 2021-22 season in Detroit, producing at a point per-game pace with three goals and five assists in eight games.
The Red Wings turned to veteran goalie Thomas Greiss on Thursday in Boston, which likely means that Alex Nedeljkovic will get back in goal on Saturday night. The 25-year-old netminder is 1-2-2 so far in six games played this season with a 3.06 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
Nedeljkovic was acquired by the Red Wings this past offseason to shore up Detroit's goaltending issues. He established himself as a starter with the Carolina Hurricanes last season, leading the NHL with a 1.90 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in 23 games played. With that effort, Nedeljkovic was able to finish as a top-three finalist for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year.
Join Brian Koziol, Pat Malacaro and Paul Hamilton for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. ET, where they will be joined by Granato, Girgensons and Sabres newcomer Alex Tuch.
Faceoff with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call is set for 7 p.m. ET on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
