Game Preview | 5 things to know ahead of Sabres vs. Blues

The Buffalo Sabres continue their four-game homestand Saturday afternoon against the St. Louis Blues at KeyBank Center.

The game will be televised nationally on ABC and stream on ESPN+ beginning at 1 p.m. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the radio call on WGR 550.

Here are five things to know.

1. The lineup

The Sabres will stick with the same lineup they iced against the Stars on Tuesday:

Forwards

53 Jeff Skinner – 72 Tage Thompson – 21 Kyle Okposo

9 Zach Benson – 24 Dylan Cozens – 77 JJ Peterka

12 Jordan Greenway – 37 Casey Mittelstadt – 89 Alex Tuch

28 Zemgus Girgensons – 19 Peyton Krebs – 50 Eric Robinson

Defensemen

26 Rasmus Dahlin – 10 Henri Jokiharju

25 Owen Power – 75 Connor Clifton

33 Ryan Johnson – 6 Erik Johnson

Goaltenders

1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

31 Eric Comrie

2. In the crease

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will make his ninth start in the past 10 games. He ranks second among NHL goaltenders with a .943 save percentage since the start of January (minimum five games played).

3. Benny and the jets

The Sabres held a 25-5 edge in shot attempts with the trio of Zach Benson, Dylan Cozens, and JJ Peterka on the ice at 5-on-5 against the Stars on Tuesday.

The trio remained intact for practices on Thursday and Friday and will play together against the Blues.

“I think Benny – he’s smart,” Cozens said. “He gets to the right places and he’s great at getting pucks back and working down low and finding me and JJ. JJ always loves being open and getting into scoring spots and Benny’s good at finding him. So, I’m excited to play with this line for a bit.”

Read more about their line in Friday’s practice report.

4. Killing it

The Sabres rank fourth in the NHL since the start of January with an 86.8-percent success rate on the penalty kill. They’ve killed 33 of 35 penalties in that span, including a 4-for-5 night against the Stars on Tuesday.

5. Scouting the Blues

The Blues are returning from their bye week, having last played against Columbus on Jan. 30. They lost that game 1-0 but won the previous five, which has them occupying the second wild card sport in the Western Conference.

“They’re an exceptional transition team,” Granato said.” You’ve got to respect that."

Robert Thomas – who was Rasmus Dahlin’s linemate at the All-Star Game last weekend – leads the Blues with 52 points and is tied with Pavel Buchnevich with a team-high 17 goals.

Joel Hofer (9-8-0, .909 save percentage) will start in goal.