The weekend sweep of Montreal in the rear view mirror, the Sabres hit the practice ice on Monday with Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Lightning in the windshield.
There will be roster comings and goings when the puck drops on Tuesday night.
Most notably is that shot blocker extraordinaire Josh Gorges will be back in the lineup. Gorges has been on the shelf for the past three weeks with a knee injury that he suffered on the St. Louis-Minnesota trip.
The Sabres have won five of their last six games are going to get a massive infusion of experience and toughness when Gorges returns on Tuesday night.
Tyler Myers skated 31:34 TOI in Montreal on Saturday night, however, he was given a day off on Monday. Myers will be back in the lineup on Tuesday night.
I expect Nolan to scratch Andre Benoit to make room for Myers. You'll recall that Benoit committed the major boner of a turnover that led to the Winnipeg shorthanded goal that killed the Sabres last week.
Nolan reported that Andrej Meszaros is undergoing concussion protocol.
Tyson Strachan deserves to stay and play in the lineup because he has done yeoman's work while filling in for Gorges while playing alongside Myers. Strachan can easily ride shotgun for Mike Weber on the third pairing considering he's been playing top pair minutes for nearly a month. Nolan may opt to leave Myers-Strachan together and move Gorges with Weber.
On the offensive side of the puck, Nolan sent Cody Hodgson to the fourth line and promoted Torrey Mitchell to the second line. The clock is ticking on Hodgson. He may find himself in the press box soon if he can't light the lamp. After scoring 20 goals this season, there have been high expectations for Hodgson to reach 20-25 goals this season. He's nowhere near that standard right now with a goal and an assist in 24 games played. He's -9.
Drew Stafford's lower body kept him out of the win in Montreal He skated Monday and likely will draw back in against Tampa.
Marcus Foligno centered for Nic Deslauriers and Chris Stewart.
Moulson – Girgensons – Ennis Flynn – Mitchell – Gionta Deslauriers – Foligno – Stewart McCormick – Hodgson – Kaleta –Stafford
Gorges – Strachan Zadorov – Ristolainen Weber – *Benoit
*Myers was given maintenance day; Benoit likely a scratch
Enroth Neuvirth
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