Buffalo Sabres vs. Vancouver Canucks Game Preview

11/29/24 at 3:00 pm at Key Bank Center in Buffalo, NY

Record

Buffalo – 11-10-1 | 23 points – 5th place in the Atlantic Division

Vancouver – 11-7-3 | 25 points – 4th place in the Pacific Division

Special Teams

Buffalo

Power Play – 16.9% (T-22nd)

Penalty Kill – 80.8% (11th)

Vancouver

Power Play – 21.0% (12th)

Penalty Kill - 79.4% (13th)

Top Scorers

Buffalo

Alex Tuch: 22 GP, 7 G, 14 A, 21 PTS

Rasmus Dahlin: 22 GP, 6 G, 13 A, 19 PTS

Tage Thompson: 17 GP, 11 G, 7 A, 18 PTS

Vancouver

Quinn Hughes: 21 GP, 5 G, 18 A, 23 PTS

Conor Garland: 21 GP, 6 G, 12 A, 18 PTS

Elias Pettersson: 21 GP, 7 G, 10 A, 17 PTS

Starting Goalies

Buffalo – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (8-5-1, 2.45 GAA, .914 save %)

Vancouver – Kevin Lankinen (10-3-2, 2.56 GAA, .909 save %)

Line Combinations and Pairings

Buffalo

Forwards

JJ Peterka – Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch

Zach Benson - Dylan Cozens - Peyton Krebs

Jason Zucker - Jiri Kulich - Jack Quinn

Beck Malenstyn - Ryan McLeod - Sam Lafferty

Ex. Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin - Bowen Byram

Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju

Jacob Bryson - Connor Clifton

Ex. Dennis Gilbert

Goaltenders

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

James Reimer

Injuries

Jordan Greenway (week – to - week – middle body)

Mattias Samuelsson (IR – lower body)

Notes

Buffalo has allowed two or fewer goals in four consecutive games. If the Sabres allow two or fewer goals in today’s game, it would mark the longest such streak by Buffalo since the team did so in five straight games from Dec. 7 to 16, 2021.

Rasmus Dahlin has registered 12 points (4+8) in nine career games against the Canucks. Dahlin has tallied multiple points in a single game five times against Vancouver, tied for the most multi-point performances he has posted against any NHL team (Columbus). Dahlin has notched 17 points (6+11) in his last 14 games, including five points (2+3) in his last five 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.

In his last six games against Vancouver, Tage Thompson has recorded six points (1+5). In his last five games, Thompson has recorded five points (4+1)

Alex Tuch has posted 11 points in his last 10 games against Vancouver, including seven points (2+5) in his last five against the Canucks. Tuch has recorded nine points (3+6) in his last seven games.

Jason Zucker has notched at least one point in back-to-back games against Vancouver and he has three points (1+2) in that span.

In his only game against the Canucks in his career, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves on 23 shots (.957).

James Reimer has earned three consecutive wins against Vancouver. Reimer has recorded a save percentage of .914 or better in each of his last five games against the Canucks and he owns a record of 4-0-1 in that span.

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