(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres got more bad news in Philadelphia on Tuesday as Jack Eichel will not play against the Flyers. The team says Eichel is dealing with an upper-body injury.
Video from Sunday’s game against the New York Islanders clearly shows Eichel had pain in the neck area, but Ralph Krueger was very vague in what’s wrong.
“All I can tell you is he’s definitely not playing tonight, and he’s being evaluated. We will inform you when we have more,” Krueger said following Tuesday’s morning skate.
After just 18 games in the NHL, Dylan Cozens gets to shift back to his natural position of center. Cozens will be with Taylor Hall and Sam Reinhart.
Many highly touted centers start their NHL careers on the wing because it’s less complicated for them. With Eichel out of the lineup, Cozens is going to take his spot on the top line.
It’s a very good time to see if Cozens is ready to handle it, and my guess is that he is. If it goes well for the 20-year-old, general manager Kevyn Adams can look to trade Eric Staal now instead of close to the April 12 NHL Trade Deadline.
Krueger has been singing Cozens’ praises all season, and is looking forward to seeing how the rookie will handle his move to center.
“Dylan is extremely responsible without the puck, and even as a winger, he often ended up in the [defensive] zone as our low man,” Krueger said. “Faceoffs will be a challenge for him against one of the best faceoff teams in the league, but we like the look of the synergy between Taylor Hall and Cozens [they’ve] been having. They seem to be finding each other really well.”
To play center, Cozens will need to make sure he’s good at both ends. Krueger said on Tuesday he has been.
“He shows up all the time and he has the right angle. He anticipates his defensive responsibilities so well and he also makes plays which we need to do right now,” the Sabres head coach explained.
“He’s got the speed and the vision to be able to be good on transition.”
Krueger has also been impressed with another mature trait from a 20-year-old.
“His character is something that you just want to feed,” Krueger said.” You want to feed his competitiveness and you want to feed his attitude with responsibility.”
Cozens has been waiting for this opportunity ever since the start of the season with the Sabres.
“I’m definitely excited for it,” Cozens said on Tuesday. “I knew coming into the league that I was probably going to start on the wing, and I was fine with that. I’ve played a lot of both in my career, and I’m comfortable in both spots, but I’m excited tonight to try out center for the first time this season.”
I’ve mentioned many times that Cozens is mature beyond his years. Cozens said he researched long before he got to Buffalo what it would take for him in the league.
“I knew if I wanted to make the jump to the NHL as a young guy coming in, it’s defensive play,” he said. “I took a lot of pride in improving that and making sure I was ready to make the jump to the NHL.”
Buffalo drags a seven-game losing streak into Tuesday’s contest with the Flyers. The Sabres have also hit dead last in the NHL in both points and points percentage.
The Sabres are 1-3-0 against Philadelphia this season, and have been shut out three games in a row against a below-average defensive team. The Flyers are 20th in the NHL with a goals-against average of 3.05. Philadelphia has lost three of four games.
The Flyers are 22nd in the league on the power play at 18%, and are 28th in penalty kill at 72.2%.
Despite not scoring a power play goal in six games, going 0-for-9, the Sabres are still third in the NHL at 29.7%.
They’ve also gone six games without giving up a power play goal on 12 attempts. Buffalo has risen to eighth on the PK at 82.4%.
Considering the fact that this team is in the top-eight in both special team categories, it makes it more mind-boggling that they're the worst team in the NHL.
Carter Hart has one of the three shutouts against Buffalo, and is in net for the Flyers for this game. He’s 6-5-3 with a 3.47 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage.
Hart gave up four goals and was pulled after 28:09 in the Sabres’ 6-1 win back in January. He had a very easy game back on Feb. 28, stopping all 28 shots is a 3-0 victory. Before that game, Hart gave up six goals in two periods against the Boston Bruins, and after that game, let in five against the Pittsburgh Penguins and three against the Washington Capitals.
Buffalo is his only win in his last five games.
Philadelphia is fifth in points in the East Division, two back of Pittsburgh and Boston. Meanwhile, The Flyers are fourth in points percentage, but the problem is this is Philadelphia’s fifth game against the Sabres, while the Penguins and Bruins have yet to play Buffalo this season.
The Flyers have two players with double-digit goals figures.
James van Riemsdyk is their leading scorer with 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points in 22 games. His point total ranks him 16th in the NHL.
Joel Farabee is next with 11 goals and 20 points in 21 games. Farabee was the 14th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, and only had eight goals in 52 games during his rookie season. Farabee is from Syracuse, and spent one season in college hockey playing for Boston University.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when they’ll be joined by Krueger, Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt.
