Getting to know the Sabres<\/p>\n
Peytron Krebs – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch<\/p>\n
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn<\/p>\n
Noah Ostlund – Josh Norris – Josh Doan<\/p>\n
Zach Benson – Tyson Kozak – Brock Malenstyn<\/p>\n
Matthias Samuelsson \/ Rasmus Dahlin<\/p>\n
Zach Metsa \/ Michael Kesselring<\/p>\n
Goalies: Alex Lyon, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis<\/p>\n
Potential scratches: Josh Dunne, Jacob Bryson<\/p>\n
Injured Reserve: Conor Timmins, Jordan Greenway, Justin Danforth, Jiri Kulich<\/p>\n
The Sabres are uniquely constructed in that all four of their best defensemen happen to be left handed. That might be about to change \u2014 as of 9:00pm last night St. Louis and Buffalo reportedly have a trade made, pending Colton Parayko\u2019s no trade clause approval, to send the Team Canada member east. Seems doubtful Parayko would make it to Pittsburgh and play tonight if the transaction gets hammered out in time but if he decides to come it will finally add a marquee right shot defender to the club.Assuming he\u2019s not a part of the incomplete-at-press-time trade, this will be Josh Norris\u2019s fifth game back from his latest injury (2G+1A in the first four back, including a two-goal effort against Tampa last week) and his first time playing against the Pens since the preseason. Can\u2019t get over how dominant he was in those games, if Norris can stay in the lineup (he\u2019s only played 23 games this season) he could add a whole new dimension to Buffalo\u2019s attack. Unfortunately, staying in the lineup for prolonged periods of time has been a weakness to this point.Speaking of injuries, an underrated part of the Penguins flipping Timmins for the 39th pick in last year\u2019s draft is in the timing. Timmins\u2019 career has been checkered by injuries. Other than last year\u2019s 68 total games between PIT\/TOR, his previous seasons of games played (combining NHL and AHL) are: 42, 37, 6, 33, 25 and now 33, not counting a full season missed at what should have been the start of his career in 2018-19. To get a good draft piece from a guy who has missed more time than he played was a nice outcome for Pittsburgh, though sad to see Timmins land back on the IR again. Key to the game: Sabres shooting vs. Pittsburgh defense\/goalie<\/p>\n Since Buffalo\u2019s turnaround on December 9th (they\u2019re 25-5-2 since then, easily the best record in the league since that point), they\u2019re shooting an NHL-high 13.9%<\/a>. They don\u2019t tend to dominate the puck and crush teams in that regard \u2014 their average shots per game are 27.0 – 30.2<\/a> in this stretch \u2014 but when they do create chances, they have been finishing them with impressive frequency.<\/p>\n That could be an issue for Pittsburgh, or certainly an area to watch- we saw them get disconnected and overreact in a five-man tandem all chasing the puck like peewees after they overcommitted to a corner in the first place against Boston on Casey Mittlestadt\u2019s goal. That caused Dan Muse to use his timeout to somewhat uncharacteristically shout and chastise his team over the lapse. The Pens didn\u2019t give up a goal or play a sequence that bad again against the Bruins, but by that point the damage was done. Any slips like that tonight are more than likely going to wind up in the net with the way the Sabres have been playing in the offensive zone this season. It\u2019s tough to play a completely perfect and clean game against NHL-caliber competition, especially for a team like the Sabres that has grown immensely with their confidence and ability to strike. The Pens and their attention to detail will have their work cut out for them tonight, how they\u2019re able to handle that could tip the balance in this tilt.<\/p>\n Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin<\/p>\n Rickard Rakell – Ben Kindel – Bryan Rust<\/p>\n Anthony Mantha – Kevin Hayes – Justin Brazeau<\/p>\n Avery Hayes – Connor Dewar – Noel Acciari<\/p>\n Parker Wotherspoon \/ Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n Ryan Shea \/ Connor Clifton<\/p>\n Goalies: Arturs Silovs (Stuart Skinner played last game)<\/p>\n Potential Scratches: Blake Lizotte (day-to-day injury), Ryan Graves, Ilya Solovyov<\/p>\n IR: Sidney Crosby, Filip Hallander, Jack St. Ivany<\/p>\n The Penguins had an off day yesterday after returning from Boston. They now gear up for another stretch of three-games-in-four days starting today after just ending a three-in-four stretch on Tuesday. And the beat goes on..Is it too early to hope Lizotte\u2019s day-to-day injury is on the shorter end for a return tonight? Possibly, though more information could be revealed by potential participation at the morning skate coming up. The team could surely use Lizotte coming back ASAP given the state of their center depth chart these days that contains possibly only two actual NHL-quality centers (Dewar has certainly been an NHL-quality winger, filling in on a pinch, to his credit, and Kevin Hayes, well, he is a great guy!)..A three day recovery for Lizotte to make it back in time for tonight feels a little more on the hopeful end of the spectrum than anything else, but it doesn\u2019t cost anything to hope.<\/p>\n Geno with the home cookin\u2019<\/p>\n No one has felt more at home on their own ice these days than Evgeni Malkin, currently on a 10-game point streak at PPG Paints. From Pens PR:<\/p>\n Evgeni Malkin has been hot at home as of late with 12 points (2G-10A) in his last 10 games. He currently has the longest active home point streak in the NHL:<\/p>\n Longest Active Home Point Streaks, NHL<\/p>\n Name Streak Dates G A PTS<\/p>\n Evgeni Malkin 10 Jan. 8 \u2013 Present 2 10 12 With a point tonight, Malkin would have his first home point streak of at least 11 games since January 20 \u2013 February 26, 2022 (11 GP; 5G-8A). He has the longest home point streak this season by a Penguin.<\/p>\n It\u2019s that time of year to white-knuckle it over every out of town score and point gained or lost. Here\u2019s what hockeystats.com <\/a>has with their model for the Pens\u2019 outlook based on tonight, entering the day with an 85% chance of the playoffs<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/buf.jpg\"\/)
<\/a>Lyon and Luukkonen have split the last four games since the Olympic break, with each playing twice and each playing rather well (Lyon has allowed four goals in his two games, Luukkonen gave up only three, both with save percentages north of .948% in the small sample). That means the Pens figure to see a goalie in good form tonight, no matter which one Buffalo decides to play.Jack Hughes obviously had the ultimate star turn for the Olympics with his golden goal, a level down from there Tage Thompson was really good too. Thompson has kept it in gear, scoring 3G+2A in four games since returning. He also found the back of the net in the last PIT\/BUF game in early February.Rasmus Dahlin is always a visible player, he\u2019s out there over 24 minutes per game for starters. Dahlin has put up 1G+4A in the last two games. When listing the reasons of \u2018why is Buffalo good now\u2019, pretty high up on the list is Dahlin who has put up 33 points (10G+23A) in the last 31 games of this growing sample of the Sabres\u2019 becoming a wagon.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/bufpit.jpg\"\/)
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Rasmus Dahlin 8 Jan. 12 \u2013 Present 2 8 10
Tim Stutzle 7 Jan. 13 \u2013 Present 4 6 10
Matt Boldy 7 Jan. 15 \u2013 Present 2 9 11
Quinn Hughes 7 Jan. 22 \u2013 Present 1 11 12<\/p>\n
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