{"id":447244,"date":"2026-02-05T16:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T16:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/447244\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T16:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T16:01:13","slug":"lines-notes-how-to-watch-vs-sabres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/447244\/","title":{"rendered":"Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Sabres"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 One more game until the nearly three-week Olympic break. The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> (28-14-12) are trending sideways over the last two games following their torried 13-2-2 run coming out of the holiday break. The Penguins visit the charging Buffalo Sabres (32-18-6) at Key Bank Center Thursday.<\/p>\n

The puck drops just after 7 p.m. <\/p>\n

The Penguins are slight underdogs on the FanDuel NHL moneyline<\/a>. Bettors are split, giving the Penguins +108 to win outright, but the Sabres are -130. Both teams have picked up considerably in their Stanley Cup odds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Penguins have struggled over their last seven periods, since giving up four goals to the New York Rangers in the third period Saturday. The Penguins were not good in a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators Monday and couldn\u2019t close against the New York Islanders in a 5-4 OT loss Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Stuart Skinner had his first rough game with the Penguins Tuesday. He allowed a couple of softies, including the game-tying goal by Adam Pelech on a long wrist shot. <\/p>\n

Penguins winger Bryan Rust<\/a> returned to the Penguins lineup after serving a three-game suspension and scored. So, too, did Egor Chinakhov, Anthony Mantha, and Justin Brazeau. <\/p>\n

However, it wasn\u2019t enough as the Penguins made a mistake in overtime. All three Penguins went low in the zone, and Bo Horvat<\/a> beat Skinner on a breakaway for the OT winner. <\/p>\n

The Penguins remain in second place in the Metro Division, but have just a three-point lead with one game in hand on the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are the first team outside the playoff seeds. <\/p>\n

It seems Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula has awakened a sleeping giant. Buffalo is 20-3-1 since ownership fired general manager Kevyn Adams and replaced him with Jarmo Kekalainen. <\/p>\n

Buffalo has risen from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to solidly in a wild-card spot and is chasing the top three of the highly competitive Atlantic Division. Buffalo has the third-best winning percentage in the division. <\/p>\n

Buffalo\u2019s own hot streak is trending a little bit sideways, at least in terms of results. They\u2019re 1-1-1 in their last three, including an OT loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Mattias Samuelsson had a pair of goals, and Josh Doan scored the other, but Colten Ellis stopped 31 of 35 for the loser point. <\/p>\n

How to Watch<\/p>\n

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Radio: 105.9 The X<\/p>\n

Expected Penguins Lines<\/p>\n

Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby<\/a>-Bryan Rust<\/p>\n

Igor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin<\/p>\n

Anthony Mantha-Ben Kindel-Justin Brazeau<\/p>\n

Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari<\/p>\n

Defense<\/p>\n

Brett Kulak-Ryan Shea<\/p>\n

Ilya Solovyov-Connor Clifton<\/p>\n

Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n

Goalie: Arturs Silovs, expected<\/p>\n

Expected Sabres Lines<\/p>\n

Peyton Krebs-Tage Thompson-Alex Tuch <\/p>\n

Jason Zucker-Ryan McLeod-Jack Quinn <\/p>\n

Josh Doan-Noah Ostlund-Konsta Helenius <\/p>\n

Isak Rosen-Tyson Kozak-Beck Malenstyn <\/p>\n

Defense<\/p>\n

Mattias Samuelsson-Rasmus Dahlin <\/p>\n

Bo Byram-Owen Power <\/p>\n

Zach Metsa-Jacob Bryson<\/p>\n

Goalie: Alex Lyon, possible<\/p>\n

Special Teams<\/p>\n

Penguins power play: 26.4%, 3rd. Penguins penalty kill: 84.2%, 3rd.<\/p>\n

Sabres power play: 20.1%, 16th. Sabres penalty kill: 82.1%, 9th.<\/p>\n

Penguins Game Notes<\/p>\n

With a goal Tuesday, Anthony Mantha<\/a> hit the 20-goal plateau for the fourth-time in his career. <\/p>\n

The Penguins have wins in three of their last four games against the Sabres (3-1-0), and are 15-6-1 in their last 22 games against Buffalo.<\/p>\n

The Penguins also have points in five-straight road games (4-0-1) and are 7-1-1 in their last nine road games.<\/p>\n

The Penguins have killed off 35 of their last 37 penalties over the past eight games (94.6%).<\/p>\n

Sidney Crosby has seven multi-point efforts in his last 17 games and is now one such instance shy of tying both Mark Messier and Marcel Dionne for the third most multi-point games in NHL history.<\/p>\n

Egor Chinakhov has 11 points (8-3-11) in 17 games, helping the Penguins go 11-3-3 with him in the lineup. That equates to a 38-goal pace over a full season. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Buffalo Sabres<\/a> Penguins game<\/a> Penguins lines<\/a> penguins starting goalie.<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> sabres lines<\/a> <\/p>\n

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