Evgeni Malkin will be making his return to the lineup. Is he 100%? Probably not, but it doesn't matter. He's way better than the 13th forward on this team even if NHL coaches make claims to the contrary like Barry Trotz
Barry Trotz on if Game 2 return of Evgeni Malkin changes anything: “I don’t think it does. They're deep down the center, we’re deep down the center. You can’t go chasing matchups. … It’s usually head-to-head. They’ve got two lines of power and we have two lines of power.…
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) April 28, 2018
Yep, you prepare the same for Carter Rowney as you do Evgeni Malkin...
Carl Hagelin will not be available for action in Game 2. This should give Dominik Simon another game in the lineup.
Edit: In a bit of a curveball Evgeni Malkin will NOT be playing today. All signs pointed to his return. It looks like he will make his debut this series in Game 3
The biggest news from last night was the NHL draft lottery and as far as I'm concerned it was a good result. I'm not sure I had the patience for Edmonton, Chicago, Montreal, or Ottawa winning it. Jason Botterill and the city of Buffalo finally caught a break in a sports draft. The Sabres awful defense corp. just got a magnificent upgrade in Rasmus Dahlin. Jack Eichel has to be thrilled. He's never been on the receiving end of a controlled zone exit in the NHL.
This guy is a dman
This guy pic.twitter.com/q3OG51vSDK
— Brian Mazurowski (@BMaz1) April 29, 2018
I'm not sure Jason Botterill would have dug out of the hole he inherited from Tim Murray if he didn't catch a break like this. Now there is light at the end of the tunnel. If Botterill really wants to change the direction of this franchise he has an opportunity to do so. He would have to do something none of his colleagues are either smart enough or have the courage to do. Send an expensive contract offer to an RFA ie Jacob Trouba. You have to use all of your avenues to acquire players who still have good years left to play. The Sabres can't afford to play by the same stagnant unwritten rules that the entire league operates on. Another move for Buffalo would be to trade the other Rasmus on the roster to some GM that will overvalue him. Case and point
Would Sabres trade right-shot D Rasmus Ristolainen (41 pts) to Oilers for the 10th overall pick and something else which would give Buff the No. 1 and No. 10 selections? Hearing he might be available
— Jim Matheson (@NHLbyMatty) April 29, 2018
There are NHL GM's who think like Mr. Matheson
Botterill doesn't have any control over a lottery ball so that was the hard part and they got lucky. Everything else the team has some control over. I believe last night was franchise altering for the Sabres in their pursuit to escape the gallows of the NHL's have nots.
Having a core group of Rasmus Dahlin, Jack Eichel, and Casey Mittelstadt is a great start.
Thanks for reading!