Buffalo Sabres look for season sweep in Las Vegas

The Buffalo Sabres continue their West Coast road trip in Las Vegas as they face the Golden Knights for the second time this season.

The last time the Buffalo Sabres faced the Vegas Golden Knights was in a Columbus Day matinee in which the Sabres had one of their best games of the young season.

The afternoon loss for the Golden Knights was the start of a 3 game losing streak. The defending Western Conference champions are off to a rough start this season. The Golden Knights have lost 4 of their first 6 games and have allowed at least 4 goals in each loss.

The Buffalo Sabres on the other hand, are off to their best start since the 2011-12 campaign. The Sabres, who have been in the basement already by this point in the season the past 6 years, have won 3 of their first 6 games.

The last game against the Arizona Coyotes was a night of firsts for the Sabres. Linus Ullmark, making his first start of the season, earned his first shutout in his 25th career start. Ullmark made 36 saves in the Sabres 3-0 win over the Coyotes.

The night also saw the first career NHL goal for defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. According to hockeyviz.com, Dahlin played primarily against the Coyotes’ top line of Richard Panik, Clayton Keller, and Derek Stepan.

Jeff Skinner also netted his first goal as a Buffalo Sabre. The game was the second game that Skinner was on a line with Casey Mittelstadt. The results have been strong as he has been on the ice for 3 of the Sabres’ four goals since the change was made.

The lineup will be the same for tonight’s game with the Vegas Golden Knights except for one substantial change. Zach Bogosian will be back on the ice tonight, replacing Casey Nelson. Bogosian will be paired with Nathan Beaulieu. Beaulieu comes in to tonight’s game with a goal and an average of 14:23 of ice time per game.

Zach Bogosian has not played in a regular season game since January. Bogosian’s career with the Sabres has been filled with injuries. Going into his fourth season in Buffalo, Bogosian has only played more than 60 games once. On top of that, Bogosian hasn’t played more than 70 games since the 2010-11 season.

The Sabres’ defense can use a boost as they Sabres are in the bottom ten in the league in shots allowed. Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark are 6th in the league in save percentage and have bailed the defense out of multiple jams.

Carter Hutton will be back in net for the Sabres after getting a night off in Arizona. Hutton has won both career starts against Vegas including last week’s game in Buffalo.

A win tonight will move the Sabres just 4 points behind the red hot Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division. After tonight’s game the Sabres head to California for 3 games, starting with the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Tonight’s game can be seen on MSG and heard on WGR 550.