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In an interesting development, the Nashville Predators have called up goalie Juuse Saros from the Milwaukee Admirals. It is not known if the young Finn will be starting tonight for Nasville vs. Buffalo.
Why Saros is being called up is unclear right now. Saros was the 99th overall pick in the 2013 NHL DRaft.
Saros, 20, is a 5'11" 180 lb. athletic goalie.
Saros is a far cry from the hulking behemoth that is Pekka Rinne who is 6'5" tall.
If Saros plays tonight, the Sabres will have more twine to look at than they normally do when they play Nashville.
Carter Hutton is 6'1" tall.
Saros has an 8-2 record with a 2.40 GAA and .919 save percentage for AHL Milwaukee this season.
Rinne made 33 saves in Nashville's loss in Philly on Black Friday.
Perhaps Carter Hutton was shaken up or injured as a result of this massive collision with Marcus Foligno in Wednesday's 3-2 Predators win in Buffalo.
I still can't figure out what Carter Hutton was thinking when he granted a dangerous game of chicken to Sabres hammer Marcus Foligno on Wednesday night.
Foligno is an 18-wheeler who loves to play the heaviest of heavy hockey.
Hutton was squashed like a sand fly on the windshield of a Peterbilt Truck when he lost the battle with Foligno.
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There is a report that former Sabres center Paul Gaustad has been placed on IR. Forward Gabriel Bourque has also been placed on IR.
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Will the Preds approach Foligno to seek retribution for the Hutton hit tonight?
Isn't it ironic that ex-Sabres Paul Gaustad was on the ice for the Lucic-Miller explosion? Goose was also on the Preds bench for the Foligno bombing of Hutton.
I was shocked that the Preds didn't challenge Foligno to a brawl after trucking their goalie.
Foligno told me that he was ready for battle after the incidental collision with Hutton, however, nobody from the Predators challenged him to a fight.
Isn't it ironic that ex-Sabres Paul Gaustad was on the ice for the infamous Lucic-Miller car crash back in the day? Goose was also on the Preds bench for the Foligno bombing of Hutton. In both sitautions, Gaustad nor his teammates failed to rush in to the defense of their fallen teammate.
I was shocked that the Preds didn't challenge Foligno to a brawl after #82 trucked Hutton.
Foligno told me Wednesday night that he was ready for battle after the incidental, unavoidable collision with Hutton, however, nobody from the Preds challenged him.
Knowing Foligno the way I do, I'd caution the Preds to proceed with caution when it comes to exacting revenge on Foligno. He will fight you when he is challenged. He was only doing his job by tracking down the 50-50 puck. Hutton made the unfortunate decision to try to win a foot race with the mobile, agile, and hostile Foligno
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It took a little longer than expected, however, Buffalo's tryptophan-induced scoring coma came to an end on Friday night when the Sabres scored a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Goals by Josh Gorges, Jack Eichel, David Legwand and Brian Gionta paced the Sabres past the Canes by a 4-1 score.
The Sabres had gone winless in it's previous six games (0-4-2) prior to the win over the Canes.
The Sabres scored only 7 goals during their 6 game offensive coma.
Ryan O'Reilly and Company will look to keep the scoring lines open in Smashville tonight.
The Preds and the Sabres will meet for the second time this week; the first came in a 3-2 Nashville win on Wednesday in Buffalo.
O'Reilly leads the Sabres in points with 17 (7G, 10A), while generational forward Jack Eichel has already lit the lamp eight times. Eichel scored #8 on Friday night against his good friend Noah Hanifin (#5 overall 2015). Eichel now has goals in 2 straight games and is on pace for 29 goals this season. No Sabres rookie has had 25 goals in a season since Thomas Vanek in 2005-06.
Lost in Buffalo's (9-12-2) impressive start to the season has been the tremendous growth and development of young Finn D monster Rasmus Ristolainen who now has 9 points in his last 10 games. Ristolainen is on pace for a remarkable 50 point season. If he scores 50 points, Ristolainen would be the 1st Buffalo D-man with 50 in a season since Gary Galley in 1995-96 and the youngest Buffalo D since Phil Housley.
With all of the fanfare for Preds D Shea Wber, Roam Josi and Seth Jones, why no love for Ristoalinen? The kid is on pace to score 50 points while playing against the top lines in the NHL and all while skating 23-25 minutes TOI per night.
Why not start the Ristolainen for Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL's best defenseman, campaign now?
Ristolainen is new to this rarified air, however, he is playing as well if not better than perennial Norris candidates Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Erik Karlsson, PK Subban, and Shea Weber.
Do I think Risto can win the Norris this year? No. But I do think that he deserves the praise that he has earned.
I spoke with Risto about his elevated two-way game after the Buffalo win on Friday night.
"That's my game. I love to play at both ends. So far, it's been okay. But, I know that I can be better".
When I reminded him of his 50-point pace, Risto threw a bucket of ice water on the idea.
"I don't think about that. I just play my game and help my team win games".
Chad Johnson, who made 27 saves in the Carolina win on Friday night, relieved Linus Ullmark in the 3-2 Nashville win in Buffalo on Wednesday night. Johnson is 5-7-1 this season.
Nashville has won five-straight games against Buffalo by outscoring the Buffalo 17-5 in those games.When the Sabres played in Music City last March , Mike Fisher and Craig Smith recorded goals and Pekka Rinne stopped all 24 shots he faced in the 3-0 shutout win.
The Preds are 12-6-2 all time versus the Sabres.
The Predators went 1-3-1 on their road trip, including a 3-2 overtime loss yesterday afternoon against Philadelphia.
Nashville has played in 12 one-goal games this season, earning points in 11 of those contests (7-1-4 record). The Preds have a 9-0-2 record when holding their opponent to two or fewer goals, and are 9-1-1 when scoring three goals or more.
Pekka Rinne appeared in his 400th career game on Friday afternoon, becoming just the fourth Finnish-born goaltender in NHL history to reach the 400-game plateau. Miikka Kiprusoff (623), Kari Lehtonen (521) and Niklas Backstrom (409) have also played in at least 400 NHL contests. Rinne is also one of seven NHL goaltenders since 2008-09 to win at least 200 games.
James Neal leads Nashville in goals (9) and points (17) through 22 games this season. Defenseman Roman Josi has four goals and 10 assists, while forward Filip Forsberg has three goals and 10 helpers. Captain Shea Weber has scored six goals this season, five of which have come on the power play. Fisher has a point in four of his last five games versus the Sabres (2G,2A), while both Craig Smith (4G, 2A) and Colin Wilson (1G, 5A) have each recorded points in five of six career games against Buffalo. Rinne is 10-5-4 on the season.
Carter Hutton is 4-0-0 all-time against versus the Sabres.
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I'm expecting a Johnson-Hutton showdown tonight.
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There were no injuries to speak of from the Sabres on Friday night.
I don't expect Mark Pysyk (bone bruise), Tyler Ennis (upper body), or Mike Weber (knee) to draw back into the Buffalo lineup.
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