EDMONTON - We're on the road again - and will be for a while.
The Sabres open a season-long four-game, eight-day road trip tonight against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the call on MSG and WGR 550, with coverage on MSG beginning at 8:30 p.m. EST.
The puck drops at 9.
It's #SabresAfterDark for the first time in 2022-23. Here are five things to know.
Game Preview | 5 things to know ahead of Sabres at Oilers
Pregame coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. on MSG
© Bill Wippert/Getty Images
Here's how the Sabres lined up during the morning skate:
| October 18 at Edmonton |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 29 Vinnie Hinostroza | 24 Dylan Cozens | 77 JJ Peterka |
| 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 19 Peyton Krebs | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| | | |
| LD | RD | G |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 31 Eric Comrie |
| 25 Owen Power | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 78 Jacob Bryson | 46 Ilya Lyubushkin | |
| | | |
Vinnie Hinostroza will dress for the first time this season, entering the lineup in place of rookie Jack Quinn. Hinostroza tied for the team lead with three goals during the preseason.
"I think it's important to get Vinnie into the lineup and mix him in there," Granato said. "Jack will be out tonight. I don't think it hurts Jack at all. I think it's a great opportunity for development to sit back after a couple games and take some different things in. He won't be out long.
"He's here," Granato continued to say of Quinn. "We know he's a young guy in a high development range of his career. It's important for him to get ice time and also it's important for him to be able to step back or not be in the fire all the time as part of the development process."
Video: PREGAME: Granato
Eric Comrie will start in goal for the second straight game, and he'll have his share of supporters in the audience. Comrie was born in Edmonton and raised here until age 10, when his family moved to California.
Comrie is coming off a 33-save effort in his debut against the Panthers on Saturday.
"He was ready to go," Granato said. "He played very well the other night and we're going to use both goalies on the trip, so easy to put him in with all that."
Comrie attended Oilers games growing up, many of which his brother Mike - who is 15 years older - played in as a member of the team from 2000 to 2003. This will be his first regular-season game in Edmonton.
"I went to pretty much every single game there was," Comrie said. "Watching my brother play here was awesome. He played a lot of games here, played a lot of good games here, and it was a lot of fun to watch him play and just be part of the crowd. I remember the crowd here was always amazing."
Video: PREGAME: Comrie
Rasmus Dahlin has two goals through the Sabres' first two games, both of which have been scored below the hash marks in the offensive zone.
Dahlin credited the early production to "good teammates," but also to an aggressive mindset on offense.
"A little bit more of an attacking mode," Dahlin said. "It hasn't been D shots from the blue line, it's more down by the goal. So, a little more of an attacking mode, I would say."
With a goal tonight, Dahlin would join Lindy Ruff as the second defenseman in franchise history to score in each of the first three games in a season.
Video: PREGAME: Dahlin
Any conversation about the Oilers begins with the two all-world talents at the top of the lineup. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl both have Art Ross and Hart Trophies on their resumes, both ranked among the top-five point scorers in the NHL last season, and both have five points through Edmonton's first two games.
The job for the Sabres will be maintaining their identity as the aggressor while limiting the Oilers' playmakers the other way.
"The mindset can't be only on those two guys," Dahlin said. "They're obviously superstars so we've got to respect them for sure. But we as a team have got to come together and play our game and play hard. I mean, players like that [don't] like when the other team is on their butt the whole game. So, just got to get quick to our game and play our game."
Edmonton has split its first two games of the season despite falling behind 3-0 in both of them. The power play has scored at a 50-percent clip (4-for-8).
"We just got to be on our toes," Dahlin said. "Our structure is based on skating and gapping so as we're moving our feet, it's going to be good. But we've got to stay aggressive, too."
