Sabres at Utah Hockey Club | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

The Buffalo Sabres make their inaugural trip to Salt Lake City for a Thursday night matchup against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center.

Regulation has settled nothing in Buffalo’s last two games, but the Sabres emerged with a shootout victory Saturday versus Vegas and an overtime win Monday in Boston.

Monday’s result snapped an eight-game winless streak away from KeyBank Center, and as the Sabres continue their four-game trip, they look to continue improving their defensive play and overall performance on the road.

“We’ve got to clean up our road play, and that will give us a good shot of making the playoffs every year,” said forward Peyton Krebs, who opened the scoring in Boston with his sixth goal of the season. “The teams that have the best road record seem to make the playoffs. So, (we’ve) just got to continue to build off this, play the right way and good things will happen.”

Utah, despite continuing a tough March with a 7-1 loss Tuesday at Edmonton, still sits just four points behind Vancouver for the second Western Conference wild card spot and is 5-1-1 in its last seven home games.

Here's what you need to know ahead of puck drop at 9 p.m.

How to watch

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 8:30 p.m.)

Streaming (out of market): ESPN+

Radio: WGR 550

Click here for more ways to watch Sabres games.

Lineup notes (updated 2:45 p.m.)

JJ Peterka will be back in the lineup after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury. Peterka skated Thursday morning on the top line alongside Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch and on the right flank of the top power-play unit.

Zach Benson is expected to miss the game due to an illness. Brett Murray, who made his season debut in Boston on Monday, filled in for Benson at the net-front position on the second power-play unit.

Josh Norris (undisclosed) and Jiri Kulich (concussion) will also remain out.

James Reimer skated in the visiting net and is expected to start in goal.

Storylines

1. Revisiting Monday’s win

Alex Tuch tipped Owen Power’s shot past Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo with 11 seconds remaining in overtime, capping off a 3-2 win for the Sabres; Tuch also scored the shootout winner Saturday against Vegas. Power, who’d previously tied the game with a second-period snipe, matched a career high with three points (1+2).

Tuch’s goal marked Buffalo’s first overtime winner since Jiri Kulich’s on Nov. 22 at Anaheim. The Sabres are now 3-5 this season in games decided during the 3-on-3 period.

“It was good to see us get rewarded,” Ruff said. “They took a penalty. Tuchy should’ve beat them with the one that hit the post but found a way to put one in with that second power-play unit.”

Including overtime, the Sabres produced multiple power-play goals for the first time since Jan. 2 in Colorado. Buffalo’s now gone 4-for-9 on the man advantage in its last three games. And the second unit has heated up, with Zach Benson and Krebs cashing in along with Tuch.

A strong defensive effort, meanwhile, saw Buffalo allow just 19 shots on goal for a second straight game.

2. Game on, gloves off

When a Sabres player has taken a hit in recent games – dirty hits, late hits, etc. – his teammates have answered the bell.

Buffalo has had four official fights in its last three games, plus a fifth by Bowen Byram in Detroit that was labeled a game misconduct. Most recently, Jordan Greenway dropped the gloves with Nikita Zadorov after the Boston defenseman delivered a late hit to Tage Thompson.

“That’s something he’ll do any day,” Krebs said of Greenway, who’s fought in back-to-back games. “I’ve got a lot of respect for that guy – he’s a warrior, plays hard. I think any one of our teammates will step up for each other, and we’re showing that.

“You don’t have to fight every time, but the guy’s gotta know that if he’s gonna try to take our our top player, he’s gonna get ran into, and things are gonna happen like that. We’re just trying to play a hard game, physical, and not get pushed around.”

Krebs, too, fought Golden Knights forward Brett Howden on Saturday in response to the hit that concussed Kulich.

• Read: With Sabres’ nastiness on the rise, Zach Benson fits right in

3. Scouting the Utah Hockey Club (and Delta Center)

In spite of a middling, 3-3-2 record in March, the Utah Hockey Club has stayed afloat for a playoff spot in its first season in Salt Lake City.

Forward Clayton Keller has led the way with 75 points (24+51), tied for 11th most in the NHL. Dylan Guenther has matched those team-leading 24 goals.

With backup goaltender Connor Ingram in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, the recently extended Karel Vejmelka has started 11 straight games with a .904 save percentage in that span; Vejmelka was pulled after allowing three goals in Tuesday’s first period against the Oilers.

Utah beat Buffalo 5-2 on Dec. 7 at KeyBank Center. Tyson Kozak opened the scoring for Buffalo with his first NHL goal before Utah scored five straight, with Alex Kerfoot and Michael Kesselring both tallying multiple points.

Ruff was asked what the Sabres will look for at Thursday's morning skate, their first-ever ice time at Delta Center.

"I think everything," he said. "You look at the glass, if there's any crazy kicks off the glass, how active it is down low, what the ice is like, how fast. Guys will always comment 'great ice' or 'seems a little slow,' so we'll find out."

Game notes

• Tuch has 10 goals in his last 14 games, trailing only Leon Draisaitl (13 goals) since Feb. 4.
• Jason Zucker has a six-game point streak (4+4) against Arizona/Utah. He began last season with Arizona, totaling 25 points (9+16) in 51 games before being traded to Nashville.
• Power has 16 career multi-point games and the Sabres are 12-4-0 in those contests.