Main storyline: The last time Lindy Ruff returned to Buffalo, he was able to get the best of his former team. On Saturday, the Buffalo Sabres (15-34-3) will look to get the best of its former head coach as the Dallas Stars (23-20-8) come to town for a matchup at the First Niagara Center.
Season series: Saturday’s matchup is the first of two games between the Sabres and Stars this season. The next game between the two teams will be on March 23 in Dallas. The last game between the Sabres and Stars came back on March 3 when the Stars came up victorious 3-2 over the Sabres at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas.
Where they stand: The Sabres still hold down 30th place in the NHL standings, and sit four points behind the 29th place Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton is on Toronto on Saturday to take on the Maple Leafs. For Dallas, its season has been more of a struggle than the team has expected. The team currently sits in eleventh in the Western Conference, tied for last place in the Central Division, but only five points out of the final wild card position in the West.
Recent performance: The Sabres came home from a four game road trip following the All-Star break to play the St. Louis Blues. The game before, the Sabres had snapped a franchise record 14-game losing streak against the Montréal Canadiens. But the return home for the Sabres was not so great, as Jake Allen and the Blues shut out the Sabres 3-0 on Thursday night. For the Stars, it’s last game was also on Thursday as the team hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning on home ice. The Stars fell behind 2-0 in the first, tied the game 2-2 in the second, but Lightning’s Tyler Johnson had two goals in the third to help the Lightning get past the Stars.
Buffalo notes: The Sabres have had problems playing a full 60-minutes of hockey all season long. In the game against St. Louis, Buffalo started out strong in the first period, and played well in the second period. But when the third period comes along, the Sabres seem to fall apart and are unable to close out when it is most needed. At morning skate on Saturday, Marcus Foligno was skating for the first time in a contact jersey since December, but is not expected to play on Saturday. Foligno may return to play against the Islanders on Sunday, or the Senators on Tuesday. Jhonas Enroth was also the first goaltender off the ice at practice, so he will start for Buffalo on Saturday night.
Opponent notes: Before the season, many people expected the Stars to contend for a top spot in the Central Division. With 31 games left in its season, the team sits five points out of the final wild card spot, and have been a disappointment to say the least. The remarkable stat line is that the Stars are second in the NHL averaging 3.14 goals per game, but goaltending issues have put them third worse in goals against per game with 3.24. Kari Lehtonen has been just average, and Anders Lindback has been anything but that. Lindback will get the start against the Sabres on Saturday.
Conclusion: Ruff makes his second return to the First Niagara Center on Saturday, and will look to go 3-0 against the Sabres since his firing. Can Buffalo get back at its former coach? Opening face-off is set for 7pm, and can be seen on MSG Network.