Buffalo went 1-3-0 on their four-game homestand and play on Saturday afternoon against the Wild
2/17/24 – 5:00 pm EST at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota
Record
Buffalo – 23-26-4 | 50 points – 7th place in Atlantic Division
Minnesota – 25-23-5 | 55 points – 6th place in Central Division
Special Teams
Buffalo
Power Play – 14.4% (28th)
Penalty Kill – 79.8% (17th)
Minnesota
Power Play – 20.6% (17th)
Penalty Kill – 74.7% (28th)
Top Scorers
Buffalo
Casey Mittelstadt: 53 GP, 12 G, 31 A, 43 PTS
Rasmus Dahlin: 52 GP, 14 G, 27 A, 41 PTS
Alex Tuch: 46 GP, 15 G, 21 A, 36 PTS
Minnesota
Kirill Kaprizov: 46 GP, 20 G, 30 A, 50 PTS
Joel Eriksson Ek: 53 GP, 24 G, 20 A, 44 PTS
Mats Zuccarello: 44 GP, 9 G, 31 A, 40 PTS
Starting Goalies
Buffalo – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (13-13-2, 2.51 GAA, .913 save %)
Minnesota – Filip Gustavsson (15-13-2, 3.19 GAA, .897 save %)
Line Combinations and Pairings
Buffalo
Forwards
Jeff Skinner-Tage Thompson- Kyle Okposo
Zach Benson-Dylan Cozens-JJ Peterka
Jordan Greenway-Casey Mittelstadt-Alex Tuch
Zemgus Girgenson-Peyton Krebs-Victor Olofsson
Ex. Eric Robinson
Defense
Rasmus Dahlin-Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson-Connor Clifton
Ryan Johnson-Erik Johnson
Goaltenders
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Eric Comrie
Injuries
Owen Power (week-to-week – hand)
Jack Quinn (IR – lower body)
Notes
Buffalo is riding a five-game point streak against Minnesota (4-0-1), the longest in franchise history.
The Sabres have earned at least one point in five of their last six road contests against the Wild (4-1-1), including at least one point in each of their last three games in Minnesota.
A point in tonight’s game would give Buffalo its longest road point streak against Minnesota.
In Buffalo’s last 11 games, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has made nine starts and has recorded 222 saves on 235 shots (.945) in that span.
In those starts, he has registered a goals-against average of 1.47 and he has recorded three shutouts.
Dylan Cozens has eight points (3+5) in his last eight games.
JJ Peterka has recorded nine points (6+3) in his last nine games, including five goals in his last six games.
Rasmus Dahlin needs one goal to match his previous single-season career high (15), which he set in 78 games in 2022-23.
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