Buffalo Sabres – Winnipeg Jets Game Preview
Buffalo Sabres – Winnipeg Jets Game Preview
12/5/24 – 7:00 pm EST at KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY
Record
Buffalo – 11-12-2 | 24 points – 5th place in the Atlantic Division
Winnipeg – 18-8-0 | 36 points – 2nd place in the Central Division
Special Teams
Buffalo
Power Play – 14.7% (29th)
Penalty Kill – 80.3% (15th)
Winnipeg
Power Play – 30.7% (2nd)
Penalty Kill – 80.9% (12th)
Top Scorers
Buffalo
Alex Tuch: 25 GP, 8 G, 15 A, 23 PTS
Tage Thompson: 20 GP, 13 G, 7 A, 20 PTS
Rasmus Dahlin: 25 GP, 6 G, 13 A, 19 PTS
Winnipeg
Kyle Connor: 26 GP, 13 G, 16 A, 29 PTS
Mark Scheifele: 26 GP, 13 G, 14 A, 27 PTS
Nikolaj Ehlers: 24 GP, 9 G, 16 A, 25 PTS
Starting Goalies
Buffalo – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (8-6-2, 2.69 GAA, .906 save %)
Winnipeg – Connor Hellebuyck (15-5-0, 2.16 GAA, .927 save %)
Line Combinations and Pairings (projected)
Buffalo
Forwards
Jason Zucker – Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch
Zach Benson - Dylan Cozens - JJ Peterka
Jiri Kulich - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn - Peyton Krebs - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Ex. Tyson Kozak
Defense
Ryan Johnson - Bowen Byram
Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson - Connor Clifton
Ex. Dennis Gilbert
Goaltenders
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
James Reimer
Injuries
Rasmus Dahlin (day-to-day – back spasms)
Sam Lafferty (day-to-day – lower body)
Jordan Greenway (IR - week – to - week – middle body)
Mattias Samuelsson (IR – lower body)
Notes
Buffalo has allowed just two power-play goals in the team’s last 23 penalty kill opportunities (91.3 percent).
Tage Thompson has registered 14 points (9+5) in his last 11 home games.
Alex Tuch has recorded 11 points (4+7) in his last 10 games. Tuch needs one assist to reach 200 career assists.
Dylan Cozens has tallied three points (1+2) in his last three games and he has posted five points (2+3) in his last five home contests.
In his last three games, Zach Benson has recorded three assists.
Rasmus Dahlin has notched 17 points (6+11) in his last 17 games. Dahlin’s 72 career goals are the third-most by a defenseman in Sabres history and he is one goal away from tying Mike Ramsey for second place on Buffalo’s all-time list for defensemen. Dahlin has recorded six points (2+4) in his last six games against Winnipeg.
JJ Peterka is one point away from 100 in his career. Peterka has notched one goal in back-to-back games against the Jets. A goal in tonight’s game would make Peterka the first Sabres skater to record a goal streak of three or more games against Winnipeg since Jason Pominville from March 16, 2010 to Nov. 8, 2011 (four games).
Peterka (22 years, 326 days) would be the youngest Sabres skater to do since Tim Connolly from Feb. 17 to April 2, 2003 (three games). In three career starts against the Jets,
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has made 87 saves on 95 shots (.916). In his last eight games against Winnipeg, James Reimer has made 261 saves on 284 shots (.919).
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