Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres are in Pittsburgh for a meeting with the Penguins on Tuesday night.
Zemgus Girgensons did not take part in the morning skate, but head coach Don Granato said he expects him to be in the lineup.
Dustin Tokarski will be back in net for the Sabres. He had a great game on Friday night, helping the Sabres beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2. Tokarski is 2-3-2 this season with a 2.95 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
In the Sabres' last game on Saturday, they overcame two, two-goal deficits against the Toronto Maple Leafs, only to lose the game with 11.8 seconds left. That marks three games this season that the Sabres should’ve won and got one out of the six available points.
That’s the growing pains that this team will have to endure as they try to get better.
Buffalo has lost six out of seven games after starting the season 5-1-1. Both the Sabres and Penguins are tied with the New York Islanders for 23rd in the NHL with a points percentage of .500.
Rasmus Asplund is still Buffalo’s leading scorer with four goals and six assists for 10 points, but he’s been held pointless in his last three games. Victor Olofsson is next with nine points, but he will miss his seventh-straight game on Tuesday due to injury.
Jeff Skinner is coming off a game where he had two goals and an assist. Tage Thompson has goals in three of his last five games.
Jacob Bryson got a great opportunity to play after Mattias Samuelsson was injured during the Sabres Prospects Challenge. The second-year defenseman took advantage and is playing very well for the Sabres. In his last two games, Bryson has earned 23:19 and 24:23 of ice-time.
I noticed when he was in Buffalo for the Frozen Four with Providence College, he was confident without being cocky. Even though it’s the NHL, he has that same demeanor.
“That’s something I’ve been working on the last five or six years," Bryson said. "I think it’s just been coming with my game, and 'Donny' always tells us don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s the biggest thing, you can’t be scared to go out there and make a mistake.”
Bryson is a fast puck mover, which helps the Sabres beat pressure to get up ice.
“That’s a strong suit of my game, is just taking chances out there to make those small and smart plays,” the 23-year-old said.
Pittsburgh enter Tuesday's game having lost four out of five games, and seven of their last nine.
The Penguins have only had Sidney Crosby for two games this season, and have yet to have Evgeni Malkin available due to injury. Crosby missed the beginning of the season due to offseason surgery and then went on the COVID-19 list. Crosby has no points in his two games and is a minus-4.
Crosby may be glad to be seeing the Sabres, because in 50 career games against Buffalo, he’s scored 24 goals and 49 assists for 73 points. Over 82 games, that’s a total of 120 points.
With Crosby and Malkin out for most of the season to this point, former Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues is their leading scorer with six goals and five assists for 11 points in 14 games.
Tristan Jarry has played in 11 games in goal, while Casey DeSmith has only gotten into three games. Jarry is 5-3-3 with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
With the injuries, I don’t think it’ll surprise anybody that the Penguins have the worst power play in the NHL. They’re penalty killing is much better, ranking seventh in the league.
This is the second joint Pride Game between these two teams. The first one was in Buffalo last season.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when they’ll be joined by Granato, Tokarski and Bryson.
