The Buffalo M*A*S*H unit is releasing a forward back to the starting lineup.
Zemgus Girgensons has made progress in his injury recovery and will likely play in Gotham on Monday night. Girgsensons has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury. The Latvian Locomotive skated the full practice on Sunday on a line with Jack Eichel and Matt Moulson.
Girgensons should be in the lineup when the Sabres and Rangers meet in Manhattan on Monday night.
Girgensons suffered the injury when he collided with Boston rear guard Kevan Miller on January 15.
Girgensons has played well on the defensive side of the puck this season, however his offense has been invisible all season long. Girgensons has scored only three goals and has chipped in just five assists in 40 games played.
The 14th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Girgensons pumped in a career high 15 goals and 15 assists in 2014-15 when he was voted to the NHL All Star Game.
The 22 year old has had his fair share of failed scoring chances this season. Playing with Eichel before his injury, Girgensons hit a few posts and fired a few tape to tape passes over the cross bar.
Zemgus Girgensons says he's pretty much ready to go.
Listen to his comments: https://t.co/Oiwn6lqWZi pic.twitter.com/IEBTDGYfow
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 24, 2016
The Rangers will be in a foul mood on Monday night after getting skunked 3-0 in Ottawa on Sunday afternoon.
I expect former Ranger Chad Johnson to get the start in NYC and former Senator Robin Lehner to get the start in Ottawa on Tuesday night. In three games since returning from a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for 39 games, Lehner has logged a .936 save percentage and a 2.36 GAA.
This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Rangers this season.
â—¾Next meeting: Tuesday, March 8 in Buffalo
â—¾Last meeting: New York defeated Buffalo, 2-0, in Buffalo on March 14, 2015
â—¾The Sabres are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Rangers; 4-3-3 on the road.
â—¾This is the 172nd game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has a 78-60-33 series record.
â—¾The Sabres are 31-33-20 on the road against the Rangers all-time.
â—¾Buffalo needs a win against NYR to avoid the team’s first-ever eight-game losing streak to the Rangers. The Sabres have not gone winless in eight straight games against the Rangers since going 0-10-2 in the first 12 meetings in franchise history, spanning the 1970-71 and 1971-72 seasons.
â—¾Cody Franson has four points (1+3) in his last four games against the Rangers.
â—¾Monday night is Evander Kane’s 400th NHL game. Kane ranked fourth in the league entering play Sunday with 3.9 shots per game. Kane is the only player in the league to lead his team in both shots per game (3.9) and hits per game (2.8).
â—¾Ryan O’Reilly has 21 points (7G, 14A) in 22 road games this season, including one in each of his last five.
â—¾Entering Sunday’s games, Ryan O’Reilly (21:53) led all NHL forwards in average ice time per game and Evander Kane (21:06) ranked second.
Monday's game kicks off Buffalo’s 8th of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which concludes tomorrow night at Ottawa. The Sabres are 2-5-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 3-4-0 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (3), one point (0) and zero points (3).
The Sabres have gone six straight games without allowing a PPG against, killing 19 consecutive penalties during that span
â—¾The six-game stretch without allowing a power-play goal is the team’s longest since they killed off all 14 penalties in a six-game span from December 7 to December 19, 2013. They haven’t done so in seven straight since they went nine consecutive games without allowing a power-play goal from Feb. 25 to March 12, 2012 (19-for-19).
â—¾Buffalo’s 19 straight penalties killed is the team’s highest total since the Sabres killed 21 consecutive penalties from Feb. 24 to March 14, 2012.
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Here are the Buffalo line trios from Sunday's practice:
9-90-88 28-15-26 82-22-12 84/19-59-17
Duos:
47-55 29-46 6-3 4-25
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Josh Gorges had sat out the Detroit and Colorado games due to injury. The 31 year old veteran left D practiced on Sunday. Gorges night play either in NYC or in Ottawa on Tuesday night. The NHL will shut down from Wednesday to the following Tuesday in recognition of the 2016 NHL All Star break.
Now that Gorges is healthy, the Sabres have eight healthy D. Dan Bylsma hates carrying 8 D on his NHL roster. Bylsma now has to look two defensemen in the eye and tell then that they cannot play in the final two games before the All Star Game.
At this point, Rasmus Ristolainen and Zach Bogosian are immune from sitting out as they are the number one pair. Jake McCabe is safe. If Gorges plays, I can see Mike Weber, a lefty, sitting down. I can also see Bylsma sitting righty Mark Pysyk who just returned from injury. Cody Franson is also a candidate to sit out. Carlo Colaiocovo is the eighth D-man.
Tim Murray has extra D and there are several NHL teams looking to add veteran defenders at the NHL Trade Deadline.
Keep a close eye on the Dallas Stars and Mike Weber. Lindy Ruff and James Patrick know Weber like the backs of their hockey gloves having coached the former Windsor Spitfire in Buffalo. Weber is a pending UFA.
Also, keep a close eye on Josh Gorges and St. Louis and Los Angeles. Gorges has two years remaining on his current contract.
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Nic Deslauriers suffered a lower body injury and was placed on IR on January 5. He has missed 9 games. The energy winger skated on his own today before today's team practice and may start practicing after the All Star break.
Tyler Ennis was placed on IR with an upper body injury on December 31 and has not begun the process of skating on his own yet. Dan Bylsma says that Ennis is still week-to-week
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