About the Sabres - 03-08-11
A preview of the Sabres.
When and where: 7 p.m., Consol Energy Center.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, MSG Buffalo.
Record: 32-25-8, 72 points. The Sabres are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and third place in the Northeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Thomas Vanek, 55 points (23 goals, 32 assists).
Last Game: 3-2 overtime road win against the Wild, Sunday. Jhonas Enroth made 24 saves for the Sabres.
Last Game against the Penguins: 3-2 road loss, Feb. 4. Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for the Penguins.
Sabres Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Drew Stafford (above). He has points in five out of his past six games.
Ex-Penguins on the Sabres: Patrick Lalime, G; Jordan Leopold, D.
Ex-Sabres on the Penguins: Jason Botterill, assistant general manager; Andre Savard, professional scout.
Useless Sabres Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Former Penguins defenseman Mike Ramsey holds the Sabres franchise record for career regular season games played with 911.
Best Sabres Video We Could Find: Former Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek throwing blocker at former Capitals forward Petr Bondra during the 1998 postseason:
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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (29-16-5, 2.36 GAA, .918 SV%) for the Penguins and Ryan Miller (28-18-7, 2.66 GAA, .914 SV%) for the Sabres.
Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Chris Kunitz (undisclosed) is probable. Forwards Arron Asham (concussion), Mike Comrie (hip), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Nick Johnson (concussion), Evgeni Malkin (knee), Eric Tangradi (concussion) and defenseman Brooks Orpik (finger) are on injured reserve. For the Sabres, forwards Mike Grier ("lower body") and Jochen Hecht ("upper body") is day to day. Forward Patrick Kaleta (knee) is doubtful. Forward Derek Roy (knee) is on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins primary lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:
James Neal - Mark Letestu - Alex Kovalev
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Maxime Talbot - Dustin Jeffrey - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Chris Conner
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen - Kris Letang
Ben Lovejoy - Deryk Engelland
-The Sabres held an optional skate yesterday. Their primary lines and defensive pairings against the Wild Sunday were:
Thomas Vanek - Brad Boyes - Jason Pominville
Tyler Ennis - Tim Connolly - Drew Stafford
Nathan Gerbe - Paul Gaustad - Patrick Kaleta
Rob Niedermayer - Cody McCormick - Mark Mancari
Chris Butler - Tyler Myers
Andrej Sekera - Steve Montador
Shaone Morrisonn - Jordan Leopold
Notes:
-"You try to force stuff, so you just have to stay patient. Be physical, do the little things and try to find those open spots to get shots off." - James Neal.
-"I can’t take his stick and start scoring for him." - Kovalev on Neal's slump.
-If Kunitz does play, Dan Byslma suggested he could play with Kennedy and Staal.
-Eric Godard's suspension is finished.
-Cooke has 299 career points.
-Kovalev has 348 career points with the Penguins.
-Letang has 96 career assists.
-The Sabres' last game against the Penguins was Feb. 4 and this happened:
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-Alex Kovalev's last home game for the Penguins was Feb. 6, 2003 and this happened:
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-The Sabres recalled forwards Luke Adam and Mark Parrish from Portland of the AHL.
-The Sabres are 5-0-2 since new owner Terry Pegula took over the team.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)