Buffalo Sabres (27-34-6) at Minnesota Wild (39-25-5)
Puck Drop: 2:00 PM | Xcel Energy Center | St Paul, Minnesota
TV: MSG-B
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Minnesota Wild
Record: 39-25-5 | 83 PTS
Division Ranking: 4th in Central Division
Last Game: 4-0 Win vs Seattle Kraken
PP: 20th (21.1%) | Sabres Rank: 26th (18.0%)
PK: 31st (71.4%) | Sabres Rank: 22nd (76.9%)
What to Watch
1. Depleted Lineup
Throughout the NHL season, a team will have to battle through injuries. The hope is that key players can remain healthy or have their absences staggered. This is not the case for the Wild. They are currently without some of their best players including Kaprizov, Eriksson EK, Brodin, and Foligno. Rossi has been out recently but is expected to play against Buffalo. Despite missing key pieces from their lineup, Minnesota has continued to rack up enough points to be firmly in the 1st wildcard position in the Western Conference. They bring some momentum into this matchup after defeating the Kings 3-1 and Kraken 4-0 earlier this week. The Wild are a strong team even without some top players.
2. Glaring Weakness
The Wild do have one obvious Achillies heel; their penalty kill is terrible. They currently rank second to last in the league with a 71.4% success rate. This is likely a result of Ericksson EK, Brodin, and Foligno being out of the line up as they are some of Minnesota’s best defensive players. The Sabres powerplay has looked better since Zucker returned to the lineup and could tip the scales in their favor. Buffalo has powerplay goals in each of their last 4 games and has a 35.7% conversion rate in that time. However, counting on the Sabres powerplay to win the day is a fool’s errand. Hopefully, they can carry their recent success into this game to help them defeat a quality opponent.
3. In Tage we Trust
Despite the Sabres rough season, Thompson has been a consistent bright spot. With 14 games left, he needs 6 more goals to hit the 40-goal mark for the second time in his career and is producing at a nearly point per game pace (60 points in 61 games). He’s been heating up lately with 6 points in his last five games. With the Wild without their top defensive center in Eriksson EK, Thompson could have some extra room to work offensively.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Peterka – Thompson – Tuch
Greenway – McLeod – Zucker
Murray- Krebs – Quinn
Malenstyn – Lafferty – Kozak
Defense
Samuelsson – Dahlin
Power – Byram
Bryson – Clifton
Starter: Luukkonen
Minnesota Wild
Forwards
Boldy – Rossi – Zuccarello
Ohgren – Gaudreau – Nyquist
Trenin – Hartman – Hinostroza
Shore – Gaunce – Brazeau
Defense
Middleton – Faber
Chisholm – Spurgeon
Merrill – Bogosian
Starter: Gustavsson