The Tampa Bay Lightning will meet the Buffalo Sabres for the third time this month tonight. After dropping a 2-1 shootout decision to the Sabres on December 2nd and rebounding with a dominant 5-0 victory on December 4th, the Bolts will look to move their record against the Atlantic Division foe to 2-0-1.
Currently riding a three-game winning streak, the Lightning will have a great chance to make it a fourth straight tonight against the lowly Sabres.
While they no longer sit at the bottom of the NHL standings, Buffalo is still wholly terrible. Don’t let their improved record over the last month fool you – Tim Murray has done a masterful job crafting a McDavid-worthy roster. His only problem has been the stellar play of Jhonas Enroth. He is scheduled to get the start in net for the Sabres this evening.
To counter, Jon Cooper will turn to Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy was recalled from the Syracuse Crunch yesterday, and generated much fanfare as a result. The young Russian prodigy boasts a 2-1-0 record with a 2.01GAA and a .940SV%. To say that he’s been great in limited action would be to understate things in a criminal way.
The reason for Vasilevskiy’s re-arrival is an injury-that-isn’t-an-injury to Ben Bishop. He is reportedly dealing with some minor nagging pain, but is also being described as 100% healthy. It’s a subtly concerning situation, as everyone in the hockey world knows what happened with Bishop last season. The team is likely hoping that some additional rest will serve him well. With Vasilevskiy proving able to at least perform in short stints, it makes sense to give the team’s regular starter a night off when needed.
In addition, the Bolts called up defenseman Nikita Nesterov this afternoon. With both Radko Gudas and Jason Garrison battling ailments, the recall was necessary. Per Erik Erlendsson, Nesterov is slated to make his NHL debut. That means Vasilevskiy and the other Lightning defenders will have to be especially sharp, as the blue line this evening will look very, very green.
Even with all those injuries, this is a game that the Lightning should win. As mentioned, the Sabres just aren’t very good. A stellar performance from Enroth, which the Bolts have witnessed before, is just about the only thing that could spoil the party. Anything less than a ‘W’ this evening would be very disappointing. Here’s hoping the Bolts can end 2014 with a win!
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.