Sharpen Up: December 17, 2021 | Road trip concludes tonight in Pittsburgh

The Buffalo Sabres will look to go a perfect 3-0-0 on their road trip when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at PPG Paints Arena.
Faceoff is at 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage on MSG kicks things off at 6:30.
Buffalo defeated the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday and bested the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in a shootout last night to earn all four possible points on the trip so far.
We'll hear from head coach Don Granato this evening for any lineup news and notes.
In the meantime, here's what you need to know.

Last night's recap

From the Postgame Report by Jourdon LaBarber:
Kirill Kaprisov scored with 55.5 seconds remaining in the second period, and suddenly the Sabres had a much steeper mountain to climb than their one-score deficit suggested.
The Minnesota Wild was the Western Conference's top team entering Thursday. The Wild was 11-0-0 when leading after two periods. It was 10-2-0 at home, undefeated in its last six at Xcel Energy Center. If the Sabres did manage to force overtime, the Wild was 6-1 in games decided past regulation.
That memo never reached the Sabres.
"The message (after two periods) was simple," coach Don Granato said. "It's a very, very winnable game because of the work they put in and they deserve to win. … The response in the third period was one of ownership. 'We deserve this game.' And they went after it."

Mark Pysyk scored the tying goal with 7:57 remaining, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was lights out down the stretch and Tage Thompson scored the decisive goal in a shootout to clinch a 3-2 win for Buffalo.
The Sabres have won two games in a row to open their road trip, which concludes Friday against the Penguins. What was a seven-game winless skid has flipped into a three-game point streak dating back to Saturday's shootout loss to the Capitals.
"We've had what you might think is bad luck if you recount games," Granato said. "But you've got to keep moving on. And I say moving on - never, ever, ever stop growing and focus on that growth.
"I refer to our practices a lot and you watch our practices. They're intense. The guys are practicing with intent to get better. You see them improve in practice execution and you know there will be a lag, but eventually they're going to start executing at that proficiency in the game."
Read the full recap here.

Injury updates

Robert Hagg has been listed as month to month with a lower-body injury on the Sabres' latest injury report, released Thursday morning.

Hagg attempted to play through the injury during the second period of Buffalo's victory in Winnipeg on Tuesday before missing the entirety of the third. The defenseman averages 17:45 of ice time - his highest mark since 2017-18 - and leads the Sabres in blocked shots (56) and hits (49).
The Sabres recalled 24-year-old defenseman Casey Fitzgerald, a right shot, to replace the left-shot Hagg on the NHL roster. Fitzgerald has seven points (4+3) in 21 games with Rochester this season.
Read more here.

Tonight's matchup

From the Game Notes:
• This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Penguins this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Pittsburgh 2-1 in Pittsburgh on Nov. 16.
• The Sabres are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games against the Penguins: 4-5-1 on the road.
• This is the 204th game all-time between Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
• Buffalo has a 71-89-43 series record.
• The Sabres are 28-54-21 on the road against the Penguins all-time.
• Each of the last 13 meetings between these teams have been decided in regulation.
• The Sabres have five points in their last three games and enter tonight's game looking for their first four-game point streak of the season.
• Buffalo has held its opponents without a power-play goal in eight of its last 10 games dating back to Nov. 26 vs. Montreal.
• The team has gone 17-for-19 (89.5%) and ranks fifth in the NHL on the penalty kill during that stretch.
• Vinnie Hinostroza has a point in each of his last three games (1+2) and is looking to extend his point streak to four games for the first time since April 21 to 29, 2021 (4 games, 3+2).
• Rasmus Dahlin has registered seven points (3+4) in his last seven road games.
• Kyle Okposo has at least a point in seven of his last nine visits to Pittsburgh, registering eight points (2+6) in those nine games.

Rochester back in action tomorrow

The Amerks are on a four-game road trip that didn't start off on the right foot in Charlotte on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The team is in Lehigh Valley for a game against the Phantoms tomorrow.
The 7:05 p.m. matchup will be the second and final meeting of the season between the two clubs and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Rochester closes out the trip Sunday in Hershey.
We'll have more in our Amerks Update later today.