The Buffalo Sabres are looking to avoid history on Wednesday night when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game of a back-to-back set at PPG Paints Arena.
With a loss, the Sabres would set a new franchise record for longest winless streak of 15-consecutive games. The franchise record was set back in the 2014-15 season when the Sabres lost 14 games in a row in regulation, which included going winless in the month of January.
In this current stretch for the Sabres, the team has gone 0-12-2 and have been outscored 58-23 by the opposition.
In case you were wondering, the longest winless streak in NHL history is held by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1980-81 season, where they went 30-straight games without a win, going 0-23-7.
The Sabres' 2020-21 season has spiraled completely out of control with the team sitting all by itself in the basement of the NHL standings. With their 6-20-4 overall record and 16 points, Buffalo sits eight points behind the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings for 30th place in the standings. In terms of points percentage, the Sabres also sit in last place at .267. Anaheim and Detroit are the next teams ahead of Buffalo at 3.64
When looking at the East Division, Buffalo is a full 12 points behind the New Jersey Devils for seventh place, while sitting a whopping 30 points back of the New York Islanders for first place. The Sabres are 24 points behind the Penguins, who currently sit in third in the division with a 19-11-2 record and 40 points.
Don Granato is just two games into his new role with the Sabres as interim head coach. His first game behind the bench was an ugly 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins last Thursday, but the team did not hold a morning skate that day due to COVID-19 protocols.
After a few days off and a couple good practices in Buffalo, the team responded much better on Monday in a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Monday. Even though the Sabres got outshot 40-19 in the loss, they showed a good amount of fight, especially in the third period when down 3-1 and tying the game within the first 4:22 of the final 20 minutes.
If the Sabres can put together more efforts like Monday and find some more consistency over a 60-minute period, the wins should start to come for the group.
The Sabres got some good news on Tuesday when goalie Linus Ullmark returned to the ice for his first practice in nearly a month. The 27-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in Game 1 of their winless streak on Feb. 25 against the Devils.
While there is no timetable for a possible return to the lineup, Ullmark's impending return to the net is a welcoming sight for the Sabres, who find themselves in a goaltending dilemma.
After trading goalie Jonas Johansson to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, the Sabres turned to the tandem of Carter Hutton and Dustin Tokarski in goal, while Michael Houser would serve as the taxi squad goalie after signing an NHL contract on Friday.
Early in Monday's loss to the Rangers, Hutton ended up leaving the game with a lower-body injury after a collision with forward Julien Gauthier. That forced Tokarski into the game, where he played very admirably with 33 saves on 37 shots faced.
So until Ullmark comes back to the lineup, Buffalo will be forced to turn to Tokarski and Houser in net, while top goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been called up from the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League and was loaned to the taxi squad.
It will likely be Tokarski in net for Buffalo on Wednesday, as he's set to get his first NHL start since the 2015-16 season while with the Montreal Canadiens. His last start saw him get shelled in a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Dec. 21, 2015, where he gave up three goals-against in 43:08 of ice-time.
Tokarski's effort in relief on Monday was his first NHL action since the 2016-17 season with the Anaheim Ducks.
Jeff Skinner was, arguably, Buffalo's best player on the ice in Monday's loss to the Rangers. The 28-year-old winger seemed to be all over the ice, creating chances and getting pucks to the net. He finished the night with six of Buffalo's 19 shots on goal, 16:44 of ice-time (the most he's had all season), and the game-tying goal in the third period after a nice breakout pass from defenseman Brandon Montour.
Granato felt it was his obligation to talk with Skinner when he took over as head coach to get him excited about his opportunity to be more of an impact player on the Sabres, which includes scoring goals.
Buffalo's interim head coach also felt that youngsters Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Dahlin had good games on Monday in New York.
Cozens made his return to the lineup after suffering a concussion the first time the Sabres played the Penguins nearly two weeks ago back in Buffalo. The 20-year-old scored the first of two goals early in the third period to pull the game to within a goal, while also registering a hit and winning 63% of his faceoffs in 19:12 of total ice-time.
As for Dahlin, he did look better and more comfortable with the puck on Monday, as he finished the night with two shots on goal, three hits and a blocked shot in 18:56 of total ice-time.
As for the Penguins, they will be without Evgeni Malkin on a week-to-week basis as he deals with a lower-body injury. The 34-year-old has played the Sabres well throughout his entire career with 58 points (19+39) in 44 career games. In his two games this season against Buffalo, Malkin has scored a goal and two assists for three points.
Also out of the lineup on Wednesday for Pittsburgh will be forward Brandon Tanev, who is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Tanev has contributed well in his second season with the Penguins, scoring seven goals and adding eight assists for 15 points in 30 games played. In his two games against the Sabres this season, the 29-year-old has a goal and an assist.
Sidney Crosby will look to continue his hot stretch of games against the Sabres in his career. The Penguins captain has 65 career points (22+43) in just 44 games against Buffalo, and already has a goal and an assist in the two games this season.
Overall, Crosby is Pittsburgh leading scorer this season with 32 points (12+20) in 31 games.
Jake Guentzel leads the Penguins this season with 13 goals in 32 games. Two of the goals scored this season have come against the Sabres, both of which coming on the power play.
Tristan Jarry was in net for Pittsburgh when he earned a 5-2 win over the Sabres back on March 11. The 25-year-old was not tested much on that night, only forced to face 23 shots on the night.
Jarry will get the nod in goal for the Penguins on Wednesday. He is 12-8-0 overall this season in 22 games played with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
Faceoff at PPG Paints Arena is set for 8 p.m. ET with the Paul William Beltz Pregame Show kicking off coverage at 7 p.m. ET with Brian Koziol. During the pregame, you will hear Granato's pregame conference call, plus more from Ullmark and Luukkonen.
With the game being televised nationally on NBCSN, the only place to hear the local play-by-play with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray is on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.