Sharpen Up: March 28, 2022 | Sabres look to extend streak at Chicago

The Buffalo Sabres are 3-0-2 in their last five games and will look to push their point streak to six games tonight.
They're up against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center. Faceoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550 with MSG's pregame coverage starting at 8.
Buffalo earned a point last night in a 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Rangers.
Here's what you need to know.

Last night's recap

From the Postgame Report:
Kyle Okposo was unhappy with the outcome, a 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Rangers inside Madison Square Garden.
But the Sabres' veteran leader could not ignore the positives for a young team that battled back from multiple deficits while extending its point streak to five games (3-0-2) on Sunday.
"We're starting to figure out how to play every game," Okposo said. "And that's something that's a very hard thing to do. I'm not saying that we're there yet, because we're not. But we're starting to show some glimpses of it where we're sticking to our game no matter what."
Buffalo trailed 2-0 less than five minutes into the contest after New York forward Frank Vatrano struck with two goals scored 18 seconds apart.
The Sabres settled down and clawed their way to a one-goal lead before falling behind again, 4-3, during the third period. Jeff Skinner scored a power-play goal to tie the game with 6:53 remaining in regulation.

"Maybe in some other circumstances an immature team would kind of pack it in maybe," Skinner said. "I think we did a good job of staying in it and continuing to press for that next one."
Sabres coach Don Granato sensed his players were fighting through tiredness, having gone to overtime in four straight contests dating back to the middle game of their Western Canada road trip in Calgary on March 18. He felt it showed in the mistakes that fed the Rangers' transition to open the game.
Rasmus Asplund scored to cut the 2-0 deficit in half before the first intermission. The Sabres tied the game on a Will Butcher shot from the high slot early in the second period, then pulled ahead on a powerful drive to the net from Okposo less than five minutes later.
"We're down 2-0 five minutes into the game and it's a tough building, loud building," Okposo said. "They push hard right away and I thought we just did a really good job of calming down and settling into our game."
K'Andre Miller scored the winning goal in overtime, costing the Sabres a second point. The one they did get was a testament to their growing sense of identity.
"That's the mark of the truly good teams in this league and we're showing signs of getting there," Okposo said. "By no means is it a finished product."
Read more here.

Tonight's matchup

Because the point streak is still alive, we'd expect Peyton Krebs to continue announcing the starting lineup:

From the Game Notes:
• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Blackhawks this season.
• Last meeting: Chicago defeated Buffalo 4-1 in Chicago on Nov. 17, 2019.
• Next meeting: Friday, April 29 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 1-5-4 in their last 10 games against the Blackhawks; 0-7-3 on the road.
• This is the 125th game all-time between Buffalo and Chicago; Buffalo has a 54-53-17 series record. .
• The Sabres are 19-34-9 on the road against the Blackhawks all-time.
• Each of Buffalo's last five games have gone beyond regulation. If tonight's game goes to overtime, it would mark the first time in franchise history the Sabres played six consecutive games that went beyond regulation time.
• The Sabres enter tonight's game with at least a point in each of their last five games. If Buffalo earns at least a point tonight, it would mark the team's first six-game point streak since Oct. 3 to Oct. 14, 2019 (5-0-1).
• The Sabres enter tonight's game with at least a point in each of their last three road games. If Buffalo earns at least a point tonight, it would mark the team's first four-road game point streak since April 6 to April 15, 2021 (3-0-1).

• Mattias Samuelsson has four assists and a plus-9 rating in his last eight games.

• Jeff Skinner has 10 points (7+3) in his last 10 road games and five points (4+1) in his last four games overall.
• Skinner has eight points (2+6) in his last nine games against the Blackhawks.
• Casey Mittelstadt has five points (1+4) in his last four games.
• Mittelstadt has five points (1+4) and a plus-3 rating in his last five road games.
• Rasmus Dahlin has five points (1+4) in his last five road games and four points (1+3) in his last four games overall.
• Alex Tuch enters tonight's contest with a five-game point streak against the Blackhawks, tallying seven points (3+4) during that span.
• Kyle Okposo has eight points (5+3) in eight career road games in Chicago, including a goal in each of his last three visits to United Center. He has registered five points (4+1) in his five total meetings with the Blackhawks since joining the Sabres in 2016-17.
• Okposo has scored a goal in each of his last three games against the Blackhawks overall.
• Tonight's game wraps up Buffalo's 13th of 16 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 5-4 overtime loss at NY Rangers on Sunday.
• The Sabres are 4-7-2 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 2-6-4 in the second game so far this season.
• Buffalo's point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (0), three points (3), two points (2), one point (2) and zero points (4).

RJ Night is Friday

We're less than a week away from celebrating the legendary career of Hall-of-Fame play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret.
Before Buffalo's game against the Nashville Predators on April 1, the team will honor RJ by adding a banner bearing his name to the rafters of KeyBank Center.
The first 10,000 fans through the gates will receive a replica banner.
Fans attending the game are encouraged to be in their seats by 6:40 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now.
Click here for more info.
Stay tuned later this week for further details on the night.

RJ Bracket Championship Round: May Day! vs. Scary Good!

Two classics are going head-to-head in the finals. Vote for the champion now through Wednesday night.

Brad May's overtime goal in Game 4 of the 1993 Adams Division Semifinals completed Buffalo's sweep of the Boston Bruins and allowed Buffalo to advance to the second round for the first time in 10 years.
Read more about the iconic goal here.

When then a season-long lockout ended in 2005, expectations around the NHL for the Buffalo Sabres were pretty low. But as the year wore on, the team ended up putting together one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history.
After clinching a playoff spot, they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round and then put the dominant Ottawa Senators on their heals in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Rookie Jason Pominville capped it off with a shorthanded goal in overtime in Game 5 to eliminate Ottawa.
For more on the game, read our "Sabres Classics" story on it here.

Frozen Four update

Four Sabres prospects still have a chance to win a national championship after winning both of their games this weekend in the NCAA tournament.
They'll now advance to the Frozen Four in Boston for games on April 7.
Erik Portillo and Owen Power of Michigan will take on Denver. Ryan Johnson and Aaron Huglen of Minnesota will face Minnesota State.
The national championship is set for April 9.