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Craig Anderson was the first goaltender off the ice at the morning skate and is expected to start.
Here's how the group lined up this morning in Okposo's absence, with Jack Quinn expected to step back in at forward after sitting out Thursday.
| November 12 vs. Boston |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 22 Jack Quinn | 24 Dylan Cozens | 77 JJ Peterka |
| 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 74 Rasmus Asplund | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza |
| | | |
| LD | RD | G |
| 25 Owen Power | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 78 Jacob Bryson | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | 31 Eric Comrie |
| 20 Lawrence Pilut | 46 Ilya Lyubushkin | |
| | | |
Tage Thompson will center Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch, reuniting a trio that spent ample time together last season as well as in October.
Sabres coach Don Granato explained the move after practice on Thursday.
"I think they're the most comfortable (with each other) and I think right now that's how the lines are laying out - who we feel is the most comfortable with each guy in each scenario in hopes to not complicate anything," Granato said.
Dating back to last season, the trio of Skinner, Thompson, and Tuch have an expected goals percentage of 52.49 while on the ice together at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Thompson enters the contest riding a three-game point streak after scoring two goals in the loss to the Golden Knights on Thursday.
Thompson leads the NHL with nine goals and ranks second with 15 points in seven games dating back to October 29.
The Sabres have scored at least one power-play goal in eight straight games, their longest such streak since December 19, 2008 to January 6, 2009. The players with power-play goals on that streak: Drew Stafford, Thomas Vanek, Andrej Sekera, Clarke MacArthur, Jochen Hecht, Derek Roy, and Jason Pominville.
Video: LOOKING FORWARD TO HFC
Boston, under new coach Jim Montgomery, weathered season-opening injuries to a pair of impact players in forward Brad Marchand and defenseman Charlie McAvoy and has managed to match its best 14-game start in franchise history at 12-2-0.
The Bruins are limiting goals as usual, ranked second in the NHL goals against per game (2.21) and first with an astounding 94.1-percent success rate on the penalty kill.
They also lead the NHL in goals scored per game (4.00), just ahead of the second-place Sabres (3.86). David Pastrnak has been the driver on offense with team-high totals in goals (9), assists (13), and points (22), but six other players have contributed at least four goals.
Linus Ullmark has played 12 of 14 games for the Bruins, posting a 10-1-0 record and a .936 save percentage. He is expected to back up tonight, with Keith Kinkaid making his first start of the season.
