Storylines
1. The lineup
The Sabres are expected to have a new face in the lineup at forward after Nicolas Aube-Kubel sustained a lower-body injury and missed the third period on Friday.
The team is traveling with three extra forwards: Peyton Krebs, who played as a 13th forward in the exhibition game in Germany last Friday, along with Czechia natives Jiri Kulich and Lukas Rousek.
With no morning skate on Saturday, look for lineup information to be revealed during pregame warmups around 9:30 a.m. EST.
Update (8:05 a.m. EST) - Devon Levi will make his season debut in goal, coach Lindy Ruff announced. Ruff said either Kulich or Rousek will enter the lineup for Aube-Kubel, who is out due to the injury.
2. Capitalizing on the power play
The Sabres were able to get the Devils to commit four penalties on Friday but did not cash in on the man advantage.
They did generate 12 shot attempts and eight scoring chances on those power plays, according to Natural Stat Trick, many of which came from the second unit of Cozens, Jason Zucker, Zach Benson, Bowen Byram, and Owen Power.
“I think (Devils goalie Jacob) Markstrom made a lot of really good saves,” Cozens said. “I think we had our chances and we’ve got to put them behind him.”
3. One more in Europe
The Sabres Czech and Slovakia Fan Club was in attendance on Friday. They sat behind the home net in their white, horned buffalo hats, banged a drum and sang through the duration of the game.
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said the team noticed the club’s efforts and hopes to reward them on Saturday, the final day of what has been an 11-day European road trip.
“We know who those guys are,” Dahlin said. “They are unbelievable, so tomorrow we owe them a win.”
