1. The lineup
Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka will be back in the lineup after sitting the past two games, replacing Zemgus Girgensons and Peyton Krebs. Girgensons missed the trip with a non-COVID illness; Krebs was temporarily loaned to Rochester on Friday for roster management purposes.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to start in goal. Here is the full projected lineup based on the morning skate:
| January 14 at Nashville |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 77 JJ Peterka | 24 Dylan Cozens | 22 Jack Quinn |
| 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 17 Tyson Jost | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 29 Vinnie Hinostroza | 74 Rasmus Asplund | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| | | |
| LD | RD | G |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen |
| 25 Owen Power | 10 Henri Jokiharju | |
| 78 Jacob Bryson | 46 Ilya Lyubushkin | |
| | | |
### 2. The vote continues
Saturday is the last day to vote on Twitter for the NHL All-Star Game. Each tweet containing the hashtag #NHLAllStarVote followed by a player's full name (i.e., #NHLAllStarVote Rasmus Dahlin) counts as a vote. Retweets also count as votes.
Tage Thompson was the Sabres' representative on the preliminary Atlantic Division roster. The Sabres have four other players averaging over a point per game this season: Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, Jeff Skinner, and Rasmus Dahlin. Check out their campaign strategies in the video below.
Tweet from @BuffaloSabres: ���Vote 4 Jef��� 1 retweet = 1 vote!#NHLAllStarVote�� Rasmus Dahlin#NHLAllStarVote�� Alex Tuch#NHLAllStarVote�� Jeff Skinner#NHLAllStarVote�� Dylan Cozens pic.twitter.com/kJV1eQL9cv
While the Twitter window ends after today, fans can continue to cast up to 10 ballots per day at Sabres.com/Vote through January 17.
### 3. On the road again
The Sabres are coming off a 1-3-0 homestand, which opened with an emotional victory over Minnesota followed by losses to Philadelphia, Seattle, and Winnipeg.
Granato felt the meeting with the Jets most closely resembled their usual confident, attacking identity. The Sabres outshot the Jets 41-27 but were stifled by one of the NHL's top goaltenders in Connor Hellebuyck.
"I think there's enough reasons to feel good about your game if you're our guys individually coming out of last game," Granato said. "Our guys train hard, work hard, and they believe in their ability to as long as we have that I'm confident things will be positive for us."
### 4. Tonight in net
Great goaltenders come in different shapes and sizes. The Sabres faced one Vezina Trophy candidate in the 6-foot-4 Hellebuyck; they'll face another tonight in the 5-foot-11 Juuse Saros.
Saros is 15-11-5 with a .922 save percentage this season, which ranks sixth in the NHL.
Luukkonen, meanwhile, continued his strong play against the Jets despite seeing his personal six-game winning streak come to an end. He has a .914 save percentage in seven starts dating back to December 15.
### 5. Scouting the Predators
Granato expects the Predators to pose a similar challenge to the Jets stylistically.
"Very similar to Winnipeg," he said. "They want to play in your face. They'll overload the puck area. … We've needed to gauge the tempo of each game. I think coming out of last game, there'll be a little less gauging."
The Predators are returning home from a five-game road trip which ended with back-to-back losses in Montreal and Toronto. They rank fifth in the Central Division with 44 points, five back from the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Filip Forsberg leads Nashville in goals (18) and points (38). Roman Josi ranks ninth among NHL defensemen and second on the Predators with 33 points.
