*I didn’t have time to do both game recap and pre-game reports, so it’ll just be a game preview today unfortunately.*
Looking for their ninth-straight win, the New York Islanders are in Buffalo to take on the Sabres tonight. Here’s the pre-game report:
According to Heather Engel, here are the projected lineups:
BUFFALO
Victor Olofsson - Jack Eichel - Sam Reinhart Jeff Skinner - Marcus Johansson - Vladimir Sobotka Jimmy Vesey - Casey Mittelstadt - Conor Sheary Zemgus Girgensons - Johan Larsson - Kyle Okposo
Jake McCabe - Rasmus Ristolainen Rasmus Dahlin - Henri Jokiharju Brandon Montour - Colin Miller
Carter Hutton Linus Ullmark
NEW YORK
Anders Lee - Mathew Barzal - Josh Bailey Anthony Beauvillier - Brock Nelson - Derick Brassard Michael Dal Colle - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck Ross Johnston - Cole Bardreau - Oliver Wahlstrom
Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock Devon Toews - Scott Mayfield
Semyon Varlamov Thomas Greiss
Despite a hot start, Buffalo has dropped three of their last four games. Evan Rodrigues is scratched and Marco Scandella is injured, while Carter Hutton is expected to start, carrying a 6-1-1 record and .926 save percentage into today’s game.
For New York, it’s interesting to see that Thomas Greiss was chosen to play Tampa Bay and Semyon Varlamov was chosen to face Buffalo. I thought Noah Dobson may also slot in for Johnny Boychuk on a back-to-back but it looks like he’ll be out for the 10th time in 13 games and Otto Koivula remains a scratch as well. Lineups remain the same for the Islanders, while Derick Brassard will look to extend his goal streak to five games.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
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