Cozens to play center with Eichel out in Philadelphia

Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel will not play against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday due to an upper-body injury.
The severity of Eichel's injury was still being evaluated when coach Ralph Krueger met with the media following Buffalo's morning skate. Eichel leads the Sabres with 18 points (2+16) and has tallied an assist in each of the past four games. He leads Sabres forwards in average ice time at 20:30.

Dylan Cozens will center a line with Taylor Hall and Sam Reinhart in Eichel's absence. The rookie was drafted as a centerman but has eased into the NHL playing primarily on the wing, impressing coaches and teammates with his attention to detail in both directions without the puck.
"He's just permanently on our confirmer videos that we show the team," Krueger said of Cozens. "He shows up all the time. He has the right angle, he anticipates his defensive responsibility so well, and he also makes plays which we need to do right now.
"Our five-on-five offense needs to be better on transition, we need to create more opportunity, and he's got the speed and the vision to be able to do that. So, just multiple factors and his character is something that you just want to feed."
Cozens said he feels prepared for the added responsibility. Both he and Krueger pointed out that he has at times ended up as the low man in the offensive zone within the natural flow of games. He has only taken 28 faceoffs but has won at a 60.7-percent clip.
"I knew coming into the league that I was probably going to start on the wing and I was fine with that," Cozens said. "I've played lots of center and wing throughout my whole career so I'm comfortable in both spots but I'm excited tonight to try out center for the first time this season.
"But, at the same time, it's not too much different. I've had my time down low in the game, first guy back, taking some draws, so I don't think it'll be that much of an adjustment."

The lineup

Here's how the forwards lined up at the morning skate, according to The Buffalo News' Lance Lysowski:
4 Taylor Hall - 24 Dylan Cozens - 23 Sam Reinhart
68 Victor Olofsson - 12 Eric Staal - 15 Riley Sheahan
53 Jeff Skinner - 27 Curtis Lazar - 37 Casey Mittelstadt
13 Tobias Rieder - 20 Cody Eakin - 21 Kyle Okposo
Jonas Johansson was the first goaltender off the ice, likely lining him up to make his second straight start.

Scouting the Flyers

The Sabres dominated in just about every phase of the game during their first meeting with the Flyers, a 6-1 win in Philadelphia on Jan. 18. Since then, they have been shut out in three straight meetings with the Flyers, including back-to-back losses in Buffalo on Feb. 27 and 28.
"It was a painful weekend for us and I think it really started the negative mojo that's in and around our group right now," Krueger said. "We need to be angry about what happened that weekend at home and show that we're able to take that anger and put it into a productive, hard-working, gritty kind of game. That's what we're gonna do.
"Of course, we take confidence out of the first weekend we spent here, pre-COVID breakdown. I think that was a time when we were playing our game consistently, we weren't worried about the scores and we weren't psychologically off balanced. Getting back to that is gonna be what this game is all about."
Philadelphia has lost two straight games in regulation for the first time since last season. It fell 4-3 in Pittsburgh on Saturday followed by a 3-1 loss at home against Washington on Sunday.
Carter Hart, who made 28 saves for the shutout in the most recent meeting between the Sabres and Flyers, will start in net.

Tune in

Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. You can also listen to the game on WGR 550. The puck drops at 7.