After three games, the Buffalo Sabres are still in search of their first win of the season. Tonight, Buffalo looks to get that first victory at home over their newest division rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In the three games played, Buffalo is having trouble finding the back of the net. Zemgus Girgensons and Thomas Vanek have been the only two players to score a goal for Buffalo. The Sabres had their chances, putting up 76 shots in the three contests.
Saturday in Pittsburgh, Buffalo put up only 21 shots on Marc-Andre Fleury and got one goal from it. “We didn’t generate a lot of anything tonight. We just have to be a lot simpler than we are right now,” said Sabres coach, Ron Rolston, about the game.
Jhonas Enroth had a strong performance in net, making 31 saves in the 4-1 loss. Enroth started in net while Ryan Miller sat out with tightness in his lower-body. However, Miller’s injury is considered a day-to-day issue. Miller will be in the lineup tonight, but he will be backing up Enroth.
At the morning skate on Monday, Cody Hodgson was not on the ice because he took a maintenance day to rehab a lower-body injury. Marcus Foligno was a full participant in practice and should be ready for tonight’s game. He skated on a line in practice with Mikhail Grigorenko and Drew Stafford. Ryan Miller was not on the ice with Enroth or Matt Hackett, but was present after practice to work with goaltending coach, Jim Corsi. Hackett was then sent back down I-90 to rejoin the Rochester Americans.
For Tampa Bay, they are coming off of a 3-2 shootout victory in Chicago on Saturday night. Valtteri Filppula scored the game-winning shootout goal to get the Lightning their first win of the season. Tampa lost their season opener 3-1 to the Boston Bruins.
The injuries for Buffalo are beginning to thin out, as Marcus Foligno appears to be ready to go tonight. Ville Leino is out indefinitely with a broken rib, while Henrik Tallinder is expected to miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury. Cody Hodgson should be ready to go and he will play tonight.
For Tampa Bay, Mattias Ohlund has been plagued with a left knee injury that is not healing as expected. In fact, Ohlund has not played an NHL game since May of 2011 due of his knee injury. Defenseman, Brian Lee, is the other Lightning player out with a knee injury, and is out indefinitely.
Ron Rolston knows what the Tampa Bay Lightning can bring to the table against his Buffalo Sabres club. “They’re playing real well. They got a lot of guys that can hurt you out front, good team speed, and a lot of puck pressure. So we’ll have to be good at managing things through the neutral zone,” said Rolston.
If the Sabres can create some more quality chances against Ben Bishop, they will eventually find the back of the net. Ron Rolston has the confidence in this young team to get some scoring and get their first win on the year. The puck drops tonight at the First Niagara Center on the NBC Sports Network and WGR 550 at 7:30 p.m.