Pittsburgh, PA (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres are 1-5-2 on the road, but that win came in their last road outing as they erased a 4-1 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings in overtime. Starting with that game Buffalo is 4-1-0.

Even though they picked up 8-of-10 points, Buffalo only passed one team in the Eastern Conference. They are tied with a points percentage of .500 with the New York Rangers meaning Buffalo still has seven teams to leap over to get to the eighth and final playoff spot which is five points away and occupied by the Boston Bruins.

It just goes to show you what a monumental hole the Sabres have put themselves in.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will get his third straight start in goal. In his last five games he’s 3-2-0 with a 2.42 goals against and .910 save percentage.

Tage Thompson has goals in six consecutive games and seven out of eight. In those eight games he has seven goals and four assists for 11 points. Only Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars has more goals during that time period with 11.

Josh Norris won’t return on Wednesday, but he hasn’t been ruled out for the weekend. On Tuesday in practice he centered a line with Zach Benson and Noah Ostlund. The team envisioned Norris playing with Thompson, but Thompson centering Alex Tuch and Shane Doan has gone very well. I asked Ruff if he would break up that combination, and he said,

“Bringing a player back into your lineup that’s going to make you a better team is an awesome problem to have. It just might bring us another line that can be just as effective at and help us win.

“Say that the Thompson line is getting the tougher matchup and you have another line with a Norris and Benson, it’ll make us more dangerous.”

Buffalo is 2-6-2 in their last 10 games in Pittsburgh. Overall they’re 5-3-2 on their last 10 vs the Pens.

Pittsburgh’s .595 points percentage is second in the Atlantic Division behind the Tampa Bay Lightning at .636.

The Pens have lost five out of six games going 1-2-3. Three of those losses and the only win have come at home. Pittsburgh has a home record of 5-3-2.

Tristan Jarry is back in goal after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. Jarry is 5-2-0 with a 2.60 goals against and .911 save percentage.

After a couple of down seasons, it seems like Evgeni Malkin has rediscovered the fountain of youth. He’s the Penguins leading scorer with six goals and 18 assists for 24 points in 21 games. Sidney Crosby has 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in the same amount of games.

Join “Schopp and the Bulldog” for the pregame starting at 6:00 when you’ll hear from Ruff, Norris and former Penguin Conor Timmins.