Sabres continue Western Conference road trip in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS - Colin Miller was a member of the inaugural Vegas Golden Knights team that made an unforgettable run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018. He's played in the playoffs each of the past three seasons, once with Boston and twice with Vegas.
All this is to say, Miller knows what playoff intensity feels like. He felt it during the Buffalo Sabres' 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
"Yeah, it was high energy," Miller said. "I think these are all playoff games for us here now so, try to bring that energy again."

The Sabres continue their Western Conference road trip against another playoff caliber opponent when they meet the Golden Knights tonight at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas enters the contest having taken over the top spot in the Pacific Division on the strength of a seven-game winning streak.
The Sabres, meanwhile, are embracing the stakes as they look to make up ground in the Atlantic Division standings. They trail third-place Toronto by 10 points with two games in hand following the Maple Leafs' victory over Florida on Thursday.
"I think in between the game days we maybe speak about bigger pictures, but right now it's just enjoying this game and what a wonderful place to play a game of hockey against such a strong team in a hot streak," coach Ralph Krueger said.
"You've got to love the challenge, and that's what we're talking about today. What do we need to do and what kind of game do we need to play? It's just all about our identity and finding that early and hanging onto it right through the game."

Lineup notes

Dominik Kahun will make his Sabres debut after practicing on a line with Marcus Johansson and Jimmy Vesey on Thursday. We covered Kahun's skillset in yesterday's practice report, which you can read here.
Michael Frolik will be scratched at forward. The Sabres will warm up with seven defensemen and reveal the scratch on defense prior to puck drop. Carter Hutton will start in net.
Frolik has been a regular on the penalty kill since joining the Sabres, so his absence will bring about personnel changes. Krueger said Thursday that the Sabres may try to utilize more bodies while shorthanded after allowing two power-play goals in Colorado.
"With Frolik being out of this game today, we'll have new bodies in there and it's nothing to do with him. He's done a really good job there and we're happy to have him in the group," Krueger said. "There's going to be guys going in and out. We'll get a little bit of a rotation going. But we definitely need others to get involved and we're also going to be looking at some structural changes on the PK today."

Scouting the Golden Knights

Vegas is coming off its seventh win in a row, a 3-0 shutout of Edmonton at home on Tuesday. Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves, newly acquired forward Nick Cousins scored a goal, and defenseman Alec Martinez tallied a pair of assists to up his point total to four in four games with the team.
The Golden Knights will turn to another new acquisition tonight in former Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner, who will make his first start with the team. Lehner, who has a .918 save percentage in 33 games this season, was acquired in a trade with Chicago on Monday.
Vegas will be without its leading scorer in Mark Stone, who is out with a lower-body injury. Max Pacioretty ranks second on the team with 62 points, including a team-high 30 goals.

LOG Line update

The trio of Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson, and Kyle Okposo has found a groove offensively. They have scored at least one goal in each of the team's last four games, outscoring opponents 5-1 despite seeing heavy minutes against opposing teams' top lines.
Okposo has points in five straight games. Girgensons has points in three straight and now has 12 goals this season, his highest total since scoring a career-high 15 in 2014-15. Larsson has already matched his career high with 17 points in just 56 games, all at even strength.

Tune in

Coverage on MSG begins at 9:30 p.m. You can also listen to the game on WGR 550 with puck drop set for 10.