On Thursday night (Nov. 9), the Pittsburgh Penguins dropped in to play the Los Angeles Kings. After a back-and-forth game with three lead changes, the two teams needed overtime (OT) to decide the outcome. After Bryan Rust’s first OT winner was called back for an offside, he went back out and scored another, clinching the Penguins’ 4-3 victory and completing a three-game sweep of the NHL’s California teams.
Tonight (Nov. 11), the Penguins face off at home against a 7-6-1 Buffalo Sabres team that hopes to stay in the playoff hunt this season and end its 12-year playoff drought. The Sabres come into tonight on no rest after defeating the Minnesota Wild 3-2 at home on Friday (Nov. 10) night.
Now at 6-6-0, the Penguins find themselves back competing for a playoff spot in this early stage of the season, though they are three points back of the Sabres in the Eastern Conference standings. At the end of the 2022-23 season, both the Penguins and Sabres finished with 91 points but outside the playoff picture, and both teams look to rectify that by this season’s end.
Setting the Stage: Lineups, Injuries & Stats
For the Penguins, the big blow recently was in the net, with Tristan Jarry sustaining an injury on a play against the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 7. With swelling to his eye, he was unable to play against the Kings, so the Penguins called up Joel Blomqvist from Wilkes-Barre of the American Hockey League (AHL) to back up Magnus Hellberg.
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Among their skaters, they sent Vinnie Hinostroza back down to the AHL and started Jeff Carter on the fourth line against the Kings. Carter had been a healthy scratch the previous two games.
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As for the Sabres, Dylan Cozens played against the Wild but did miss the previous two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes with an undisclosed injury. Alex Tuch has an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day and did not play against the Wild.
Injuries
- Penguins: Will Butcher (undisclosed, the Penguins placed Butcher on injured reserve), Tristan Jarry (undisclosed, Jarry did not play in Thursday’s (Nov. 9) game), John Ludvig (concussion, the Penguins placed Ludvig on injured reserve), Alex Nedeljkovic (lower body, the Penguins placed Nedeljkovic on injured reserve), Mark Pysyk (lower body, the Penguins placed Pysyk on injured reserve)
- Sabres: Zach Benson (lower body, the Sabres placed Benson on injured reserve), Brandon Biro (upper body, the Sabres placed Biro on injured reserve), Eric Comrie (lower body, the Sabres placed Comrie on injured reserve), Jack Quinn (Achilles, the Sabres placed Quinn on injured reserve), Mattias Samuelsson (the Sabres announced that Samuelsson was placed on injured reserve), Matt Savoie (undisclosed, the Sabres placed Savoie on injured reserve), Alex Tuch (upper body, Tuch is listed as day-to-day and did not play Friday (Nov. 10) against the Wild)
Interesting Stats and Facts
- With a goal against the Kings, Jake Guentzel now has three goals and six points in his last three games and continues to lead the Penguins with 10 assists and 15 points through 12 games. In 22 games against the Sabres, he has 10 goals and 18 points.
- Sidney Crosby extended his seven-game scoring streak with a goal and an assist against the Kings. He now has seven goals and 14 points through 12 games and has enjoyed success against the Sabres with 27 goals and 80 points in 56 games.
- Erik Karlsson has been heating up lately. He is riding a four-game streak with six assists and seven points. Karlsson has scored 37 points in 44 games against the Sabres.
- For the Sabres, Tage Thompson has finally gotten things going after a slow start. He has scored five goals and 11 points in his last eight games and picked up an assist against the Wild. He now has six goals and 12 points through 14 games this season.
- After a goal and an assist against the Wild, Jeff Skinner now leads the Sabres attack with seven goals and 13 points in 14 games. In 49 games against the Penguins, however, he has struggled, with only nine goals and 20 points.
- Magnus Hellberg will likely get the nod tonight as Jarry continues to mend. He earned his first win against the Kings and now has a 2.50 goals-against average (GAA) and a .922 save percentage (SV%) in his three appearances. In his one game against the Sabres, he was shelled for five goals on 34 shots for a 5.11 GAA and a .853 SV% in a loss.
- For the Sabres, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is 3-2-1 with a 3.10 GAA and a .899 SV%, and a shutout this season. In his one appearance against the Penguins, he lost, surrendering three goals on 31 shots. Devon Levi is likely to have the night off after the win against the Wild. He enters tonight with a 3-3-0 record with a 3.18 GAA and a .896 SV%.
Penguins vs. Sabres Storylines
Tonight will be a battle between two teams that missed the playoffs a season ago. On the one hand, you have a younger up-and-coming team trying to break through and end a long drought. On the other, you have a veteran club trying to prove that last season’s absence was a fluke.
This is the first of three meetings between the two teams. After tonight, the Sabres will play the Boston Bruins at home on Tuesday (Nov. 14), and the Penguins will visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Puck drops tonight at 7:30 PM EST.