U.S. Thanksgiving is upon us and the Buffalo Sabres are still in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
At 10-6-2 (22 points), the Sabres find themseves tied with the Bostin Bruins (10-6-2)for 5th place in the East. On Thursday night, Tampa, Toronto, Montreal and Columbus were winners while the Sabres and Bruins were idle.
Buffalo will have a chance to shift into on demand four-wheel drive and climb up the standings tonight when kickoff a three road games in four nights and six games in nine games trek in WinterPeg.
The Sabres will play the Jets on Friday, Minnesota Wild on Saturday and Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
Bolts, Leafs, Blue Jax, Habs, Isles win pic.twitter.com/75NfBHslfD
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) November 16, 2018
Eichel and Company are 6-2-2 in their past ten games.
The Sabres have clawed, hacked, and slashed during their current three game consecutive win streak. The Sabres led then lost four, one-goal leads to the Montreal Canadiens but won 6-5 in overtime. Last Saturday, the Sabres eliminated a two-goal third period lead and won it in the shootout. On Tuesday night on home ice, the Sabres rode the red hot goaltending of Carter Hutton to a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Hutton had been Buffalo's bedrock and has earned 15 of Buffalo's 22 points this season.
Hutton, 32, has settled into the number one goaltender role and has been giving his teammates a chance to win in the games that he has played in.
How hot is Carter Hutton (7-6-1)?
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) November 16, 2018
#Sabres goaltender ranks 8th in GAA with 2.64, 9th in shot attempts faced with 416, and 10th in saves made with 381 pic.twitter.com/FA1o3l0ClC
Linus Ullmark has been outstanding in the 5 games he has started this season. Ullmark is 3-0-1 with a 2.79 GAA and .916 SV%, with one shutout.
Carter Hutton is expected to start in Winnipeg. Hutton made 48 saves to shut out the Jets in his only meeting with them last season when he back stopped the St. Louis Blues. Hutton has a 4-4-1 record and a .933 SV% in 10 career appearances against Winnipeg.
Linus Ullmark stopped 42 of 44 shots (.955 SV%) to earn the win in his only previous meeting with the Jets on January 10, 2016.
Thes upstart Sabres are looking at this roadie as an opportunity to earn six more points in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Sabres are averaging 3.00 goals for per game while surrending 2.94 goals against. The Buffalo power play is ranked 18th in the NHL (17.8%) while their penalty kill is 11th with an 81.8% kill rate.
A win in The Peg on Friday night will give the Sabres their first four-game winning streak since December 9 to 15, 2014.
Jack Eichel is tied for sixth in the NHL with seven multi-point games this season, 11 shy of his career-high 18 in a season.
Jeff Skinner is tied for 14th with six multi-point games, 10 shy of his career-high 16.
Skinner’s nine goals in nine road games this season tied for the NHL lead entering.
With 13 goals in his first 18 games in a Sabres sweater, Skinner trails only David Pastrnak (17 goals) for most in the NHL this season.
His 11 even strength goals tie Skinner with Nathan MacKinnon and Patrick Kane for the NHL lead.
Jason Pominville has 5G,12A in his last 17 games against Winnipeg, including 3G,4A in his last three.
Kyle Okposo has 5G,10A in his last 14 games against the Jets. In 26 career games against Winnipeg/Atlanta, Okposo has posted nine multi-point outings, including four in his six matchups with the Jets since the beginning of the 2015-16 season.
Samson Reinhart has scored 4G,2A in six career games against the Jets, including his first career hat trick on January. 10 in Winnipeg.
Reinhart has scored a goal and six assists in his last five games, including three two-point games during that stretch. The Sabres are 9-0-0 this season when Reinhart records at least one point and 24-2-3 (.879) in his career when he records at least two points.
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Eichel has totaled 3G,2A in five career games against Winnipeg.
Marco Scandella has scored 2G,3Ain his last five games against the Jets.
Skinner has scored 2G,2A in four games against Winnipeg since the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
Conor Sheary has 1G,2A in his last three games against the Jets.
Evan Rodrigues and Rasmus Ristolainen each recorded two assists in two games against Winnipeg last season.