Morning Skate | Ruotsalainen to make NHL debut vs. Caps

Arttu Ruotsalainen will make his NHL debut when the Sabres host the Washington Capitals at KeyBank Center on Friday.
Ruotsalainen, 23, led the Rochester Americans with 13 points in 13 games this season. He began the year playing with Ilves of the Finnish Elite League, where he tallied a league-high 16 goals and 27 points in 19 contests before play paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic in December.

Read more about his path to the NHL here.
Interim head coach Don Granato said the team plans to dress seven defensemen for the third straight game. Ruotsalainen will step into at forward in place of Steven Fogarty.
The Sabres are looking to rebound from a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at home on Thursday. They will see the East Division's top four teams (Boston, the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh, and Washington) 14 times from tonight until the end of the season.
"We haven't had any success against the top teams in the division," Granato said. "That's easily documented in the win and loss column. So, we have to challenge ourselves to become better. These games are a playoff series. I spoke to the players this morning about, 'You want to know what the playoffs are like? This is what they're like.'
"… These teams hold you accountable. The sport of hockey holds you accountable. If you don't take away time and space, they're going to make a good play on you. Anybody is. So, the best teams in the league hold you accountable to executing more proficiently. And that's the challenge."

Scouting the Capitals

Another day, another step in the record books for Alex Ovechkin. The Washington captain scored power-play goal No. 266 against Boston on Thursday, surpassing Brett Hull for second all-time. Sabres Hall of Famer Dave Andreychuk holds the record with 274.
Slowing Ovechkin and the Capitals power play down will be a priority for the Sabres, who are 1-4-1 in the season series despite holding edges in 5-on-5 shot attempts (258-233) and high-danger chances (51-29), according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
Washington has scored on four of its nine power-play attempts against Buffalo, a conversion rate of 44.4 percent.
"Just be aware of their options," Colin Miller said. "… They've got unlimited weapons over there so make sure we're getting in lanes, doing all those character things that it takes on a penalty kill."

Notes of the night

• Victor Olofsson will appear in his 100th NHL game. He leads the Sabres with five points (3+2) against the Capitals this season.
• Rasmus Dahlin (1+3) and Kyle Okposo (0+3) both enter Friday riding three-game point streaks. Okposo has nine points in his last nine games played (2+7).

Tune in

Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. You can also listen to the game on WGR 550. Puck drop is scheduled for 7.