(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres are in Vegas on Monday to take on the Golden Knights with five wins in their last six road games.
Buffalo is 8-6-0 away from Western New York this season. The Sabres have also played six games out West this season, and have won five of them. Their only loss came in Seattle to the Kraken.
The Golden Knights are also very good on the road, to going 14-2-1 this season, including a 7-4 win in Buffalo where Jack Eichel had a hat-trick against his former team.
Eichel has missed the last four games with an injury. This season, he has 29 points in 27 games.
Believe it or not, that would rank him sixth on the Sabres right now. Sabres center Dylan Cozens has played four more games and has two more points.
Injured defensemen have been a problem for the Sabres this season. Lately, they’ve been playing without four regulars in Henri Jokiharju, Owen Power, Ilya Lyubushkin and Jacob Bryson.
In the last two games, Mattias Samuelsson has had to play 31:31 and 28:30, while Rasmus Dahlin has gone 29:27 and 29:15.
If there is any positive news on the blue line is Lyubushkin has a good chance to play Monday.
The red-hot Sabres power play has gone 14-of-37 lately. They have a goal with the extra man in eight out of nine games, and is second in the NHL, scoring at a 30% clip.
Buffalo has won three-straight games, and have gotten three-straight great games from their goaltenders. Craig Anderson has given up two goals in two starts, stopping 69 pucks.
In Colorado, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen gave up two goals on 41 shots. He actually started to get better two starts ago in Pittsburgh in a losing effort to the Penguins.
It’s interesting that Luukkonen seems to be improving a lot just as Eric Comrie begins practicing with the team again. Luukkonen will probably get the start on Monday.
The Sabres have never won in Vegas, going 0-3-1.
Tage Thompson had a goal and two assists, as he played in front of family and friends in Arizona on Saturday night against the Coyotes. He now has 46 points in his last 24 games.
Thompson is third in NHL scoring, and his 25 goals are second to Connor McDavid.
Despite being 8-3-2 in 13 games, Buffalo is still 21st overall in the NHL with a points percentage of .516.
The Golden Knights are great on the road, but are only 8-8-0 at home this season.
Logan Thompson has played three of the last four games in goal, losing two and allowing seven goals. He’s 1-3-0 in his last four games, giving up 12 goals.
Vegas has a power play goal in four-straight games and five out of six.
Reilly Smith has four goals in two games.
Chandler Stephenson is tied with Eichel at 29 points. He has seven points in four games.
Captain Mark Stone has gotten hot with three goals in four games. In Saturday’s loss to the New York Islanders, though, Stone left the game early with a leg injury.
Vegas has a six-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings for first place in the Pacific Division. Their .682 points percentage leads the Western Conference and is sixth overall.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 9 p.m. EST, as the Sabres wrap up their three-game road trip.
