Las Vegas, Nev. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – Alex Tuch was left at the hotel and didn’t take part in Tuesday’s morning skate. Lindy Ruff said he’s ill and is questionable for the game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Tuch scored in the shootout in Saturday’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. If he can’t go, Tyson Kozak will play.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was the first goalie off the ice as it’s his turn to be in net. Luukkonen is 15-8-2 with a 2.71 goals against and .905 save percentage. He was very good in his last game, but lost to the Washington Capitals 2-1. The Caps got the game winner with just 1:33 left in regulation time. Since Dec. 21 Luukkonen has a record of 11-3-1.

The Sabres beat Vegas in Buffalo 3-2 and have taken five of the last six against them.

Buffalo has been by far the best road team in the NHL since Dec. 9. The Sabres are 17-2-1 for a points percentage of .875. The Minnesota Wild would be next at .735. As far as points go, Buffalo has 35 points while the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning have 26. The top four teams by points are all in the Atlantic Division which the Sabres lead with a points percentage of .657. Carolina leads the Eastern Conference at .682, but only have two more points than the Sabres. On Tuesday the Hurricanes are in Columbus and the Bolts are at Seattle.

Vegas gets Mark Stone back from injury and they need him. The Golden Knights have won two-straight games, but overall they’ve lost 6-of-9. They’re still in second place in the Pacific Division with a .567 points percentage. The Anaheim Ducks are at .575 while the third place Edmonton OIlers are .551. Anaheim has 77 points, Vegas has 76 and Connor McDavid’s crew has 75 points. The Oilers just found out on Tuesday that Leon Draisaitl is out for the season with an injury.

Aidan Hill will get the call in net as he’s coming off a 21-save shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks. He’s 8-6-3 with a 3.05 goals against and .871 save percentage.

As you would expect Jack Eichel leads the way in scoring with 24 goals and 50 assists for 74 points in 59 games.

Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 9 p.m. when you’ll hear from Ruff, Mattias Samuelsson and Zach Metsa.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Ethan Miller – Getty Images