The Canes are back at Lenovo Center tonight for the second of a two-game homestand with tonight’s matchup against Buffalo.
On Thursday, Carolina was able to notch their second straight win, coming against
the Wild courtesy of three first period goals. Nikolaj Ehlers recorded his second goal of the season, and the marquee free agent signing finally looks to be finding his footing. Sophomore Jackson Blake impressed as well, adding a goal and an assist, giving him 10 points in 13 games, good for the third leading scorer on Carolina this season.
Currently, the Canes currently sit at third in the Metropolitan division with a 9-4-0 record through 13 games. The two teams ahead of them, the Devils and Penguins, have both played more games but have 20 points apiece.
As for Buffalo, their season has been quite the opposite of Carolina’s. The Sabres are, once again, one of the NHL’s bottom feeders. It looks like their 14 year playoff drought, tied for the longest active one in the big four North American leagues, will extend another year this season.
On the offensive end, Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson lead the team with five goals each. Buffalo also has Josh Doan, the son of former Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who has quietly been enjoying a breakout season with four goals and five assists through 14 games this season.
But there’s not much else to get excited about this season for the Sabres in terms of their forward group which lacks both top-level talent and the necessary depth to compete.
As for Buffalo’s defensive core, they will be without star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who recently took a leave absence from the team. Without Dahlin, expect Owen Power and Bowen Byram to take on increased roles tonight.
Despite the lack of team success so far, Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon has performed well relative to the situation, posting a .915 save percentage in 10 games so far.
As for tonight’s game, the Canes may be getting a couple players back from injury. Per Carolina’s Walt Ruff both William Carrier and Eric Robinson have a chance to return to the lineup. It doesn’t look like defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere will suit up against the Sabres though.
For who’s starting in net, it appears Pyotr Kochetkov will get the nod tonight. Kochetkov’s last start was a 26-save shutout against the Rangers on Tuesday.
With all that being said, this is a game the Canes should come out on top. Buffalo has lost five out of their last six games, making it a prime opportunity for Carolina to extend their winning streak to three and climb up the division standings.
Here’s how to watch:
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Location: Lenovo Center, Raleigh, NC
TV: FanDuel Sports Network with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Shane Willis, analyst; Hannah Yates, rinkside.
Radio: 99.9 The Fan FM
Line: ML: CAR -260; PL: CAR -1.5 -104
