Buffalo Sabres: Will Comrie win his second straight matchup in Winnipeg?
The Buffalo Sabres have goaltender Eric Comrie slated to make his big return tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, a team he knows very well.
Yesterday, things were looking promising for Eric Comrie to make his big return tonight against the Winnipeg Jets. And now, it’s official, per Jourdon LaBarber of NHL.com, that Comrie will be the starter and in doing so, he could snag a second straight win against his former team as the Buffalo Sabres begin their first actual road trip of the season.
Comrie’s history with the Jets goes back to the 2013-14 season, when they drafted him 59th overall. He saw a pair of games with the St. John’s IceCaps that year, but it wasn’t until the 2015-16 season did Comrie start seeing regular time in the American Hockey League when he played in 46 games for the Manitoba Moose.
Comrie also made his NHL debut with the Jets, but he ironically did not start playing regularly for them until after he spent time with the Arizona Coyotes, Detroit Red Wings, and New Jersey Devils organizations. He saw just a handful of games during that span before he returned to back up Connor Hellebuyck in 2021-22.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender will get some help in tonight’s matchup in Winnipeg
Comrie will have much-needed help tonight as he returns with Alex Tuch and Zach Benson also confirmed to be in the lineup, again according to LaBarber. Henri Jokiharju, who spent time this week battling an illness, was not in the lineup card, indicating we will instead see Ryan Johnson take his place on the second pairing alongside Owen Power.
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Overall, the Buffalo Sabres look a lot healthier for their big game against the Jets than they did in that blowout loss vs. the Boston Bruins with so many faces returning to the lineup. Still, it will be tough for Comrie and Company, who will be forced to deal with Tage Thompson’s absence.
Source: Game Preview | 5 things to know ahead of Sabres at Jets, NHL.com/Sabres
(Information provided by Hockey-Database)