Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – After a grueling stretch where the Sabres played eight games in 13 days and 17 games in 32 days, Buffalo had a bit of a breather this week.
Lindy Ruff kept them off the ice Wednesday and Thursday and then had them practice on Friday.
It took a very long time, but the Sabres finally have home ice advantage. Overall this season they’re 19-13-3 playing in Western New York. That point percentage of .586 is 17th in the NHL.
In their last 12 games in Buffalo the Sabres are 10-2-0 which is .833 points percentage. Still that’s only seventh in the NHL. They’ve also scored 4.08 goals per game which is fourth overall.
In their last 17 games at home Buffalo is 13-4-0 which is also seventh in that time period at .765.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are in on Saturday with Zemgus Girgensons returning for the first time.
In their last eight games against the Lightning they’re 5-2-1. The only game this season was March 6 in Tampa where the Lightning won 6-5. Buffalo had a 5-3 lead at the 12:40 mark of the second period. Jake Guentzel scored two goals in 1:03 to tie it before the second period was over and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the game winner early in the third.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed six goals on 26 shots, so it’ll be James Reimer this time playing in his seventh game out of nine. Reimer is on a five-game winning streak while the team has won 5-of-6 and seven out of 10.
Noah Ostlund will play his first NHL game thanks to injuries to Josh Norris, Jordan Greenway and Tyson Kozak. Ostlund had 19 goals and 17 assists for 36 points in 44 games with the Rochester Americans.
Girgensons spent 10 seasons and 688 games with the Sabres before signing last July with the Lightning. Girgensons had spent his whole career with the Sabres and then all of a sudden he was in training camp with a division rival. He said of course it was different,
“It was definitely feelings I had never had before, so the start was just nervous and I was excited for a new beginning.”
According to Kevyn Adams, there was a window where Girgensons could’ve talked about coming back to Buffalo, but the winger said he had to do what was best,
“It was multiple things, I have a fond place in my heart for Buffalo, I spent one third of my life there, so these guys hold a special place in my heart, but at the end of the day the way the business worked out, it was time to move on.”
This will be the first time that Girgensons will be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as that never happened for him in Buffalo. He said,
“It’s so exciting, that’s ultimately what you play for and it was always the goal when we were in Buffalo, so that’s what every player plays for.”
Tampa Bay has won four out of five games and are 7-3-0 in their last 10.
Former Sabre Jonas Johansson will start in goal. He’s 8-5-2 with a 3.11 goals against and .898 save percentage.
Join me and Brian Koziol at 6:00 for the pregame as you’ll hear from Ruff, Ostlund and Jason Zucker.