Fresh off a much needed win the Calgary Flames are back at it tonight in Buffalo as they take on another struggling Eastern Conference foe in the Sabres.
Despite a few key injuries, most notably to Jack Eichel, the Sabres managed to stay afloat in the first month of the season.
Injuries are starting to catch up with the Sabres now, though, as they've won just three of their last 10 games and sit 28th in the league as a result.
Few expected the Sabres to be competitive even with a full lineup so playing without Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly and Dmitry Kulikov, to name a few, has made life very difficult for them.
The Flames will attempt to make matters worse tonight and have to like their chances of doing so. It is a back-to-back and the Flames are on the road but the Flames have played better away from home and the Sabres have two wins in eight tries on home soil. They also have all the aforementioned injuries to deal with.
This is another winnable game for the Flames and one they need after the disastrous start they had.
Here are the expected line combinations for the Flames:
Sam Bennett - Sean Monahan - Troy Brouwer Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Hunter Shinkaruk - Matt Stajan - Alex Chiasson Micheal Ferland - Freddie Hamilton - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton T.J. Brodie - Dennis Wideman Brett Kulak - Deryk Engelland
Brian Elliott
And the expected lines for the Sabres:
Evander Kane - Johan Larsson - Kyle Okposo Marcus Foligno - Sam Reinhart - Brian Gionta Zemgus Girgensons - Cal O'Reilly - Matt Moulson William Carrier - Derek Grant - Cole Schneider
Josh Gorges - Rasmus Ristolainen Jake McCabe - Cody Franson Taylor Fedun - Justin Falk
Robin Lehner
A few notes:
1) With Josh Gorges on the ice at 5v5 the Sabres are controlling less than 40% of the shot attempts and just over 40% of the scoring chances. Despite his horrific numbers, by far worst on the team among regulars, he skates a regular shift. The Flames should be able to expose him, especially if they get the Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik line out against him.
2) At 5v5 the Sabres are 29th in both shot attempts per 60 and scoring chances per 60. They really struggle to create opportunities at full-strength so if the Flames stay disciplined and don't give them easy looks on the power play they'll have a good chance of winning.
3) No team allows more scoring chances per 60 on the penalty kill than Buffalo. Perhaps the power play can finally make an impact tonight.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:00 eastern and can be seen on SN-W and MSG-Buffalo.
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