Buffalo has a retooled front office now

Buffalo Sabres (16-14-4) vs New Jersey Devils (20-14-1)

Puck Drop: 7:00 pm Eastern Time | Prudential Center | Newark, NJ

TV: MSG, ESPN+, Hulu

Radio: WGR 550

Know Your Opponent

New Jersey Devils

Record: 20-14-1 | 41 PTS

Last Game: 2-1 win against Utah Mammoth

Division Ranking: 5th, Metropolitan

PP: 11th, 20.9% (19/91) [Sabres: 14th, 20.4% (22/108)]

PK: 28th, 75.8% (75/99) [Sabres: 1st, 84.8% (84/99)]

What to Watch

1. More Front Office Changes

Earlier today the Sabres confirmed the addition of Associate GM Marc Bergevin and Assistant GM Josh Flynn, and possibly more to come as Jarmo Kekäläinen continues his in-season rebuild of the franchise. Whether you like the moves or not, your curiosity should be somewhat piqued that GMJK appears to have license to make moves without Big Brother watching over his shoulder, which is unprecedented.

2. Problematic Second Pairing

The Sabres continue to have defensive issues, and part of it is injuries of course. Just when we got Michael Kesselring back, we lost Conor Timmins. However, there is a legitimate concern around that second pairing for Buffalo because the hope when the JJ Peterka trade was done was that K-Ring would improve Owen Power. Given that K-Ring has only played two games since returning and that pairing hasn’t had time to gel yet, but they have been absolutely brutal together.

The numbers have not been pretty – in the last two wins over the Flyers and the Islanders, the Power-Kesselring pairing have been outshot 5-on-5 by 18 (11 shots for, 29 shots against). The Byram-Power pairing has had less time together but they are 3-10 too, while Byram-Kesselring is positive. So, the weak link has been.. Power.

3. Keep It Going

The Sabres are now 7-3-0 in their last ten including the current five-game winning streak, their longest of the season. Don’t look at the standings, but especially so this season with how compacted the Eastern Conference has been. That also means that when you play within the conference, you have to win and ensure the opponent doesn’t get a loser point either like we let the Isles do last night.

The Devils have had a number of injuries but are getting fit just in time for the Sabres unfortunately with Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, and Arseny Gritsyuk all expected to play tonight.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Peyton Krebs – Tage Thompson – Josh Doan
Noah Ostlund – Josh Norris – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Josh Dunne – Beck Malenstyn – Jordan Greenway

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin – Mattias Samuelsson
Owen Power – Michael Kesselring
Bowen Byram – Zach Metsa

Goalies: Alex Lyon, Ukko Pekka Luukkonen (projected starter)

New Jersey Devils

Forwards

Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt
Arseny Gritsyuk – Jack Hughes – Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat – Cody Glass – Stefan Noesen
Paul Cotter – Luke Glendening – Connor Brown

Defense

Jonas Siegenthaler – Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes – Brett Pesce
Brenden Dillon – Colton White

Goalies: Jacob Markstrom, Jake Allen (confirmed starter)