Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – It’s a big weekend for the Buffalo Sabres, as the high-flying Edmonton Oilers come to town on Friday, followed by a visit from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
It’s not going to be easy for the Sabres to break their five-game losing streak this weekend. The Oilers are 10-2-0 so far this season, while the Leafs currently sit second in the Atlantic Division with a 8-5-1 record.
After a grueling set of games last weekend, the Sabres haven’t had a game since losing to the Washington Capitals on Monday night in the nation's capital.
None of Buffalo's injured players will be back in the lineup this weekend, because none of them have returned to practice yet. The list of players include forwards Victor Olofsson and Casey Mittelstadt, goalie Craig Anderson and defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
Olofsson has missed the last four games due to a soft-tissue injury, and it’s been noticeable on the power play. Buffalo has just gone two of its last 12 attempts on the man advantage. It seems like they’re getting very little puck possession time, and head coach Don Granato knows why.
“We need more speed. The entries at the line of entry is not as much of a challenge as the ability to push depth once we enter," Granato said following Friday's morning skate. "We’re losing that battle, because we’re just giving up momentum. We should be first to the puck and we should have numbers once we enter. So we haven’t had real good timing to hit that line with speed in numbers.”
Dustin Tokarski will get his fourth-straight start in goal on Friday, and his fifth start in six games. In his last three starts, the 32-year-old has given up 13 goals. Overall, Tokarski is 1-3-2 this season with a 3.10 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage.
The Sabres will be facing the top-two scorers in the entire NHL in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. In 12 games this season, Draisaitl has 12 goals and 14 assists for 26 points, while McDavid has nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points.
The Sabres could’ve had Draisaitl with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft, but they went with Sam Reinhart instead. In 22 more games, Draisaitl has 74 more goals than Reinhart and 152 more assists for 226 more points.
As for McDavid, Granato is well-aware of the the kind of player his team is up against on Friday night.
"He’s a guy that slides under the radar, if that’s possible, and he’s equally as dangerous, but in different ways," he said. "He does it with body position, with reach, with strength, and he has a knack for scoring. So he’s a more physical guy.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has points in all but two games for the Oilers this year. All 15 of his points are assists.
Mike Smith played the first three games in goal for the Oilers and has since been out with a lower-body injury.
In his absence, Mikko Koskinen has played nine of 10 games, going 8-1-0 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
Stuart Skinner has only played one game, allowing three goals on 38 shots in a loss to the Detroit Red Wings. He gets the start against the Sabres on Friday.
Skinner was a third round pick of the Oilers in the 2017 NHL Draft. The 23-year-old has just two NHL games played, with most of his pro career being spent with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League.
The Oilers played in Boston on Thursday, beating the Bruins, 5-3.
Edmonton is second in the league with a points percentage of .833. They score 4.25 goals per-game which is far-and-away the best average in the NHL. They also have a very potent power play, leading the league with a 44.1% average.
Join the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when he’ll be joined by Granato, Aaron Dell and Mark Pysyk.
