The Penguins will be hosting the Buffalo Sabres this evening and will be trying to keep pace with the other Metropolitan Division teams who remain above them in the standings. The Sabres recently sold off three members of their core during the offseason. Two players who were very good for buffalo (Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart) and one bad player (Rasmus Ristolainen). They are going through yet another rebuild so it should not come as surprise to see how things look under the hood for the Sabres.
Overall the Penguins *should* be able to control play, but they’ll need to be careful because the Sabres, while not play drivers, are opportunistic in their finishing and have a power play in the top half of the league. Here is a direct comparison
The two teams seem to be polar opposites of one another. As things move forward I would bet the Penguins goaltending falls slightly, but the shooting goes up once all the skilled players return to the lineup.
The Sabres haven’t seen much from their Jack Eichel return because none of the assets have spent time as a Sabre yet. Petyon Krebs is in Rochester and they’ve yet to even use their draft pick(s). However, that is going to change in the near future when Alex Tuch makes his return to the ice after his extended injury. Tuch has practiced in full, but will not be playing tonight.
Brian Boyle will not be available tonight which means Sam Lafferty will be back in the lineup. Personally, I don’t think he should be an option even in emergency scenarios. There’s really no upside. I’d rather pull an AHL player out of a hat than see him get time.
Tristan Jarry will be in net for the Penguins.
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