Newark, N.J. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres hit the road on Friday to play the New Jersey Devils. Buffalo has won two-of-three games, and are 3-4-0 to start the season. Meanwhile, the Devils are 1-2-1 at home and 3-2-1 overall.
Buffalo had trouble scoring goals until they put up six against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. Tage Thompson now has three goals and four points, but two of those goals and three of those points came in Ottawa.
Rasmus Dahlin has points in six-straight games and leads the Sabres in scoring with seven points. His seven assists are seventh in the NHL, and leads all defensemen.
Sabres head coach Don Granato has liked what he’s seen from Dahlin to start the year.
"I’m happy the contract’s done. I think that was a lot for him and Owen Power, so when that got done, we saw a different guy than we saw in training camp," said Granato following Friday's morning skate. "When he’s free, his hockey sense along with his compete are the two striking attributes that factor into his good start."
To show you how bad Buffalo's scoring was to start the year, the Sabres are still 21st in the NHL, averaging just 2.71 goals per-game.
The Sabres' power play is now up to 23rd, thanks to power play goals in three out of four games. In that time, they’re 3-of-15 with the man advantage.
The penalty kill is now seventh in the NHL at 88.9%. In the last two games, Buffalo has killed 6-of-8 penalties.
Sabres rookie goalie Devon Levi will miss his fourth-straight game with a lower-body injury. In his absence, Eric Comrie went 1-1-0 with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
Comrie was Buffalo's best goalie in the preseason, and that has continued into the regular season. He will get his third start of the season on Friday.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was is goal last season when Buffalo beat New Jersey, 5-4. The Sabres also won in New Jersey, 5-2, behind Craig Anderson’s 29 saves.
Luukkonen had held the Senators to one goal in the first 56 minutes of the game, but the defense collapsed around him and Ottawa ended up with four on the night.
Jeff Skinner leads the Sabres with five goals, which is good for ninth in the NHL.
When Granato was speaking on Wednesday, he made a point of talking about how he has combinations and not numbered lines. He talked about the Thompson line with Dylan Cozens and Jordan Greenway, as well as the Casey Mittelstadt line with Skinner and Alex Tuch.
"The key is not to have a top line. The key is to have top lines," Granato said. "With Mittelstadt, Tuch and Skinner, you have that, because we aren’t the ones that decides who our top line is. It’s the other team, and who are they matching against. Are they matching against the Thompson line? Are they matching against the Mittelstadt line with their top defensemen or their top checking line?
"And we’ve seen that alter a bit, which means you’ve got two top lines and two lines that preoccupy the opponent."
The biggest problem for the Sabres in this game will be the Devils' offense. New Jersey scores four goals per-game, which is third in the NHL.
Jack Hughes has been the league’s best player to start this season, as in six games, he has four goals and 13 assists for 17 points. Hughes has seven assists in his last two games.
No player in NHL history has ever had 17 points in their first six games of the season.
Tyler Toffoli has five goals in his last three games. In his last five games, Jesper Bratt has 10 points.
All of New Jersey’s games have been close this year with the exception of one game.
Meanwhile, the Devils haven’t been able to keep the puck out of their net.
Vitek Vanecek is 2-2-0 with a 3.10 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Akira Schmid is 1-0-1 with a 4.07 goals-against average and an .863 save percentage.
Vanecek gets the net against the Sabres on Friday. In his career against Buffalo, he’s 8-2-1 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. Most of those games were when he was with the Washington Capitals.
The Devils' power play has been lights out so far this season. They lead the NHL at 42.3% and are six of their last 10 with the extra man. That was helped when they went 4-for-5 against the New York Islanders earlier this month.
Lindy Ruff’s penalty kill is another story, as they’re 27th at 70.8%.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog at 6 p.m. ET for pregame coverage on WGR when you’ll hear from Granato, Tuch and JJ Peterka.
