Tonight will be the second of a back-to-back homestand for the Sabres as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in a battle of playoff outsiders. At the trade deadline, the Bolts traded away one of their top prospects in ex-Canisius Golden Griffin Cory Conacher and a 4th rounder in exchange for goaltender Ben Bishop. The 6’7’’ monster netminder was brought in by Yzerman to give challenge to Anders Lindback who has not performed at the level expected coming into the season.
This will be the third and last meeting of the season between these two teams. They have split the season series so far, both being low scoring with 2-1 results.
Tampa Bay was in action last night against the Washington Capitals. The Caps were up 4-0 at one point during the game, but the Lighting came back to send it into overtime after Bishop got pulled in the second.
After getting booed off the ice by the hometown fans, the Capitals got the game-winner with a power play goal coming from Mike Green at 2:59 of overtime.
The Sabres were also in action yesterday, facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers. Patrick Kaleta got the crowd into it quick by getting the better of defenseman Oliver Lauridsen in a fight within the first two minutes of the game.
Jhonas Enroth pulled off his third career shutout, stopping all 29 shots thrown at him. The only goal of the game came from Christian Ehrhoff. He fired the puck from the point wide, which then bounced off the boards and went into the net off netminder Steve Mason.
Chad Ruhwedel will start his second NHL game tonight in place of injured Tyler Myers after signing a two-year deal with the Sabres before yesterday’s win. The 2013 Bob Monahan Defenseman of the Year winner was paired with Mike Weber and logged 13 minutes of ice time.
The Sabres defenseman will have to keep an eye on Steven Stamkos all night, as he’s in the race for the Rocket yet again. He has 26 goals this season and is one behind league-leader Alexander Ovechkin. Stamkos has 18 points in 18 career games against Buffalo.
Buffalo and Tampa Bay are 11th and 12th respectively in the East, the Sabres having a three point advantage.
Coverage begins at 5 p.m. on MSG.