Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Thursday should be a fun night at the arena, wrapped around a very important game.
Not only are the Montreal Canadiens in town, but the Buffalo Sabres also celebrating 2005-06 Reunion Night, with some fan favorites coming back like Ryan Miller, Max Afinogenov, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Brian Campbell, Jay McKee and others.
Two huge players from that team won’t be able to make it, as the co-captains - Danny Briere and Chris Drury - are now general managers with the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, respectively.
In their only game so far this season, Buffalo lost in Montreal 4-2. The Canadiens occupy second place in the Atlantic Division with a points percentage of .628 while the Sabres are in Wild Card position No. 1 in the Eastern Conference at .600. A Sabres regulation win would put Buffalo at .609 and Montreal at .615.
The Sabres have won 14-of-16 games and have shown maturity after the two losses. Buffalo lost in Columbus after winning 10 in a row. They responded with three straight wins before losing to the Florida Panthers. They responded to that by beating the Flyers on Wednesday 5-2.
There is no morning skate so we won’t know the status of Josh Norris and Michael Kesselring until at least 5:00. Norris had to leave Wednesday’s game right after Rasmus Dahlin scored his second power play goal of the game in the second period. Lindy Ruff said he was cross checked. Ruff said before Wednesday’s game that Kesselring is available and he did acknowledge that he didn’t want to bring him back from injury and play him on back-to-back nights. Ruff said after the Flyers game that he’s like how Jacob Bryson and Zach Metsa have played so he may give Kesselring more time.
The Sabres had been miserable on the power play for 10 straight games scoring just one goal. Dahlin had two Wednesday as the Sabres went 2-for-6.
Ryan McLeod’s shorthanded empty net goal tied him for the NHL lead with four shorthanded goals. Last season Alex Tuch led the league with six.
McLeod has also gotten hot as he has 15 points in his last 16 games. Tage Thompson and Tuch are on a five-game points streak. Thompson has two goals and five assists for seven points and Tuch has three goals and three assists for six points.
Josh Doan has points in six out of seven games. He has four goals and four assists for eight points. If you’re curious, in 45 games Doan has 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points. JJ Peterka has 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 47 games with the Utah Mammoth.
I’m curious to see if Ruff might choose to use Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on back-to-back nights. He’s been alternating him and Colten Ellis for five games, but Luukkonen had another good game against the Flyers and only faced 22 shots giving up two goals. In his last seven games he’s 6-1-0 with a 2.15 goals against and .928 save percentage. Ellis has been inconsistent in his two starts against the Rangers and the Florida Panthers.
Montreal is now sixth overall in the NHL while the Sabres are ninth. The Canadiens have lost two of their last three games, but have won four of their last six. The Habs have won five straight over the Sabres and are 8-2-0 in their last 10 against Buffalo.
The Canadiens are in a three goaltender rotation lately. Since Dec. 21 Sam Montembeault is 3-0-1 with a 2.40 goals against and .921 save percentage. Jacob Fowler is 2-2-1 with a 2.43 goals against and .900 save percentage and Jakub Dobes is 2-0-1 with a 3.57 goals against and .861 save percentage.
Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 14 goals and 36 assists for 50 points in 47 games. On defense Lane Hutson is fourth in the NHL with 45 points in 47 games. Compare that to Dahlin who is 13th with 32 points in 41 games.
Tune in during "Schopp and the Bulldog" at 6 p.m. for pregame coverage on WGR, when you’ll hear interviews from the Alumni coming for the game.
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