Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres are back from their three-day NHL holiday break to host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. Visiting teams were not allowed to travel on Thursday, so the Blackhawks left for Buffalo on Friday morning.
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin has played two games since recovering from back spasms. He looked good against the Toronto Maple Leafs last week Friday, got a planned game off on Saturday in Boston against the Bruins, and then tied a franchise record for defensemen on Monday on Long Island with four assists on seven Buffalo goals.
Dahlin says his family was in for Christmas, and it was a good break.
"I just think it’s a good thing to get three days. It gets your mind off it, and you get to reflect on the first 35 games," said Dahlin following Friday's morning skate. "The conditioning is always fine. You’ve just got to make sure you get a good morning skate in, and get your hands and body moving, and you’ll be fine in the game."
Before the break started, the Sabres broke their 13-game winless skid with their 7-1 win against the New York Islanders. Buffalo blocked 30 shots in that game, and head coach Lindy Ruff felt the desperation was at a premium.
If the Sabres want to keep winning, Ruff believes it comes down to the same recipe.
"Play like we did in Boston and Long Island, play the same way," said Ruff following Friday's skate. "I thought we took advantage of some opportunities in the Island game, but Boston we missed out on some opportunities. We made some things happen and got the early goal."
The Sabres gave up three goals in the two games, plus one empty netter.
"I think we’re more direct. Everything is more clear now. We know exactly what to do, we just read off each other," Dahlin said.
"We’ve just got to make sure, No. 1, the first guy goes really hard and then everybody can read, solves in the D-zone, gaps are way better, and we’re blocking shots. So we’re doing the right things."
Dahlin mentioned more than once that he’s feeling good with the back spasms, and confirmed that this is the best he’s felt all season.
"My back is back to normal now, so it’s nice," he said.
Friday will be Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s 25th start of the season. He’s 9-11-3 this season with a 3.03 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage.
Buffalo is 6-0-1 in their last seven games against the Blackhawks.
Back in October, Buffalo won 4-2 in Chicago. In that game, the Sabres blew a 2-0 first-period lead, but just before the second period ended, winger JJ Peterka netted the game-winning goal.
Peterka is currently riding a five-game points streak, scoring two goals and five assists for seven points.
As for forward Dylan Cozens, he has 10 points in his last 15 games.
Before getting injured, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson played over 20 minutes twice. He’s been over 20 minutes in the last five games, averaging 21:44 per-game. In the seven games he’s been back, he’s been Buffalo’s best defenseman.
For the season, Samuelsson is only averaging 17:37 of ice-time per-game.
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Only two teams are worse than the Sabres in the NHL standings, and the Blackhawks are one of them. It cost head coach Luke Richardson his job.
The interim head coach is Anders Sorensen, who came up from the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League. He’s 4-5-0 since taking over behind the bench in Chicago.
The Blackhawks have lost two-straight games after winning three in-a-row.
Connor Bedard is experiencing the "Sophomore slump", as in 35 games, he has just nine goals and 21 assists for 30 points. The last 14 games have been better, as he’s scored six goals and nine assists for 15 points.
Even though his production has dropped, Bedard is still the Hawks' leading scorer by seven points.
With Petr Mrazek just getting back from injury, Arvid Soderblom played 7-of-9 games. In that time, he went 4-3-0 with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.
Even though Chicago is last overall in the NHL, they have pretty good special teams units. Their penalty killing is third overall at 85.3%, while their power play is 10th overall at 22.5%.
Join Mike Schopp for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Ruff, Dahlin and Jiri Kulich, who had two goals and an assist against the Islanders.