There’s some good news for the Sabres, as they escaped Tuesday’s game injury-free and may welcome a few more healthy faces back to the lineup tonight. Drew Stafford will return after missing 4 games from an undisclosed injury. He skated yesterday on a line with Tyler Ennis and Chris Stewart, rotating in and out of line rushes with Cory Conacher. Henrik Tallinder has also missed 4 games with a lower body injury and will be a game-time decision. “I can still feel it a little bit, but it’s not pain,” he said yesterday, just some tightness.
Zenon Konopka is also healthy and has taken part in practices since Monday. He’s excited to get back and hopefully finish the year strong and make his mark. “Obviously, playing in Buffalo is a dream come true, so you don’t wanna finish the year not playing, so it’s pretty important for me to play.”
The Sabres (21-49-9) will look for their 22nd win tonight against the New York Rangers (44-31-5) in their 3rd to last game of the season. It’s the third matchup this year between the 2 teams, with the Rangers winning both previous matchups. Most recently was a 2-0 Rangers win on December 5.
With Stafford, Konopka, and possibly Tallinder ready to go, forwards Johan Larsson and Nicolas Deslauriers and defenseman Mark Pysyk have been sent back to Rochester. Pysyk was optioned this morning, which makes it look more likely that Tallinder will be ready to go tonight. Goalie Andrey Makarov is still in Buffalo to back up Matt Hackett, but Ted Nolan plans on using Hackett the rest of the way. Makarov will return to the Amerks tomorrow, and the Sabres will have to find another backup for the final 2 games on Saturday and Sunday (I’m available).
With a goal Sunday and an assist Tuesday, Mike Weber has a point streak for the first time since March of last year. A point tonight would tie his career best 3-game point streak from the 2010-11 season. Stafford will be a welcome return to the lineup as well: in 26 games since the season’s halfway mark, he’s averaging 20:04 of ice time and has 20 points (11 goals, 9 assists). He also has 7 points (6 goals, 1 assist) in his last 7 games against the Rangers, tonight’s opponent. Ennis has had some success against the Rangers as well, with 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in his last 13 games. Cody Hodgson has 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) in his last 6 games and has 2 points in each of the last 2 games.
“With us being out of the playoffs, we’re playing for pride, playing to just get a little bit of respect and hopefully finish the year strong,” Stafford said. “Have a healthy, productive summer and just get ready for next year. It all starts with just trying to have a good finish.”
Game time is 7:00pm.
TONIGHT’S PROJECTED LINES:
- Chris Stewart – Tyler Ennis – Drew Stafford
- Cody Hodgson – Zemgus Girgensons – Torrey Mitchell
- Marcus Foligno – Brian Flynn – Matt D’Agostini
- Matt Ellis – Zenon Konopka – Ville Leino
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS:
- Christian Ehrhoff – Rasmus Ristolainen
- Mike Weber – Jamie McBain
- Henrik Tallinder – Jake McCabe
The Nice Guys 