Ullmark to make season debut in Arizona

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - Linus Ullmark's long wait is over. The goaltender will make his first start of the season when the Sabres open a five-game road trip against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Saturday night.
Ullmark, 25, has begun the season as the backup to Carter Hutton after back-to-back seasons as an AHL All-Star with Rochester. He's made 26 appearances for Buffalo over three seasons, including five games last season in which he posted a .935 save percentage.
Sabres coach Phil Housley praised Ullmark on Friday for the extra work he's put in to stay sharp since the preseason. It should come in handy against a Coyotes team that ranks fourth in the NHL with an average of 36.7 shots per game despite having only scored two goals in three games.

"We're going to have to do a good job," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "This is a team that's top five in shot attempts per game so we're going to have to come back and control the middle of the ice, try to deflect everything to the outside."

Vladimir Sobotka will step into the lineup for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury on opening night. Forwards Remi Elie and Johan Larsson are expected to be scratched, along with defenseman Matt Tennyson.
The contest kicks off a season-long five-game road trip for the Sabres, who split a four-game homestand to open their season. Coming off a 6-1 loss to Colorado, Housley said it will be key for Buffalo to take a page out of Arizona's book in sending more pucks to the net.
"We have to bounce back after our last game," he said. "We've got to have more of a shot mentality. Especially entering into the zone, we should be thinking shot. There's going to be plays to be made, but when we're running out of space we've got to get everything to the net."
After the Coyotes, the Sabres will visit four playoff teams from the Pacific Division in Vegas, San Jose, Los Angels and Anaheim. Having been a part of long road trips during his time as an assistant in Nashville, Housley emphasized the importance of opening with a win.
"It's always critical," he said. "We'd really like to kick off this road trip with a win tonight. That sort of sets the stage for the rest of the road trip. We know it's an important game."

Scouting the Coyotes

Arizona was shut out in its first two games of the season prior to a 3-2 shootout win in Anaheim on Wednesday night. Dylan Strome and Brad Richardson scored goals for the Coyotes, while Antti Raanta made 23 saves.
Raanta carries a 1.96 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage into tonight's game, his fourth-straight start. The goalie's career save percentage of .922 is tied with Dominik Hasek, Ken Dryden and Tuukka Rask for second-highest among goalies with at least 100 games played.
The Coyotes are without forwards Christian Dvorak and Alex Galchenyuk and defenseman Jakob Chychrun, all of whom began the season on injured reserve.

Projected lineup*

43 Conor Sheary - 9 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart
53 Jeff Skinner - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 21 Kyle Okposo
17 Vladimir Sobotka - 10 Patrik Berglund - 72 Tage Thompson
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 29 Jason Pominville
6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
19 Jake McCabe - 26 Rasmus Dahlin
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 8 Casey Nelson
35 Linus Ullmark
40 Carter Hutton
\Based on Friday's practice*