Sharpen Up: April 29, 2022 | Rick Jeanneret calls his final game tonight

The Buffalo Sabres will play their final game of the 2021-22 season tonight.
The Chicago Blackhawks are in town for a 7 p.m. faceoff from KeyBank Center. A limited number of tickets still remain. Pregame coverage on MSG starts at 6:30 p.m.
Rick Jeanneret and Rob Ray will have the call on MSG and WGR 550.
After the game, RJ will retire to end a 51-year career as the team's play-by-play announcer.
Using the Mixhalo app, fans at the game can bring their headphones and listen to RJ's final broadcast live without delay in the arena bowl on their smartphone.
The first 10,000 fans in attendance will also receive a commemorative "RJ's Last Call" T-shirt. "Last Call" content throughout the season has been presented by Wegmans.
At the conclusion of the game, fans are encouraged to stay in their seats to salute Jeanneret one final time.
Click here for more info on that.
In the meantime…
Here's what you need to know.

A quick look back at last night

From the Postgame Report:
Patrice Bergeron scored a pair of second-period goals for the Boston Bruins, swinging momentum away from the Sabres in a 5-0 loss inside TD Garden on Thursday.
Bergeron finished with a hat trick for the Bruins. Linus Ullmark made 37 saves for the shutout.
The Sabres entered the contest - their last road game of the season - on a four-game winning streak.
"I thought we played real well in the first, and then we didn't look like ourselves in the second and third at all," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "I don't know if it was an energy thing or what it was. But the game slipped away at that point."

The Sabres earned a 26-9 edge in shot attempts during the first period, fueled in part by two power plays. Tage Thompson nearly opened the scoring with a shot that was stopped from crossing the goal line by Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo.
Instead, it was Bergeron who struck first, winning the puck on the forecheck in the Buffalo zone and finishing a scramble in front of the net. He added his second goal on a one-time shot from the slot.
"I think that was the turning point of the game," Rasmus Asplund, who had four shots, said. "I thought we came out really, really good in the first period and we looked like ourselves. They got those two goals and I think we started to hesitate a little bit and be on our heels instead of our toes."
Read more here.

Tonight's matchup

From the Game Notes:
• This is the second and final between the Sabres and Blackhawks this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Chicago 6-5 in Chicago on March 28.
• The Sabres are 2-4-4 in their last 10 games against the Blackhawks; 4-5-1 at home.
• This is the 126th game all-time between Buffalo and Chicago; Buffalo has a 55-53-17 series record.
• The Sabres are 35-19-8 at home against the Blackhawks all-time.
• The team's performance this season has guaranteed an improvement in points percentage of at least .115, regardless of the outcome of tonight's game.
• It marks the eighth time in franchise history and first time since 2015-16 (.165) that the team has improved its year-over-year points percentage by at least .10.
• With a win tonight, the Sabres would finish with the seventh-best year-over-year points percentage improvement in franchise history.
• Buffalo has scored 226 goals this season, marking its highest output since the team scored 240 goals during the 2010-11 campaign.
• A win tonight would give Buffalo consecutive victories over Chicago for the first time since the team won three in a row from Dec. 3, 2003 to Dec. 15, 2007.
• The Sabres have not won two games against the Blackhawks in the same season since 2000-01.
• The Sabres are 25-18-7 all-time in the final game of the regular season.
• The Sabres are 15-9-3 since March 2 and tied for 13th in the NHL with a .611 points percentage during that span after Thursday's game.

• Since March 27, the Sabres' power play ranked first in the NHL at 34.1 percent (15-for-44) after Thursday's game.
• Buffalo has scored a power-play goal in 10 of its 16 games since March 27 and has two power-play goals in five of those contests.
• Regardless of his output tonight, Alex Tuch will have a new career high in points per game this season.

• Tage Thompson has 25 points (14+11) in his last 22 contests, recording eight multi-point performances during that span.
• Victor Olofsson has 21 points (9+12) in his last 19 games and has tallied multi-point games in seven of those 18 contests.
• The Sabres are 13-0-0 this season when Olofsson records a multi-point performance.
• Jeff Skinner has 21 points (10+11) in his last 19 games and has tallied at least a point in 15 of those 19 contests.

• Rasmus Dahlin has recorded at least two points in four of his last seven games, tallying nine points (4+5) over the seven contests.

It's Fan Appreciation Night

During tonight's regular-season finale at KeyBank Center, the team will host Fan Appreciation Night presented by Wegmans. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. Doors open at 5:30.
In the concourse before the game, fans can meet alumni, have their faces painted, get balloon animals made, sit down for a caricature, and have their hair done by Braid Babes.
Downbeat Percussion will perform as fans enter the arena and DJ Milk will be pumping out tunes in the concourse.
The Buffalo Sabres Foundation 50/50 raffle will offer a guaranteed pot of $25,000.
The 2021-22 Fan of the Year will be recognized during a pregame ceremony on the ice that will also announce the winner of this year's Rick Martin Memorial Award winner presented by the team's Gold Ring partners (KeyBank, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and LECOM).
Kyle Okposo, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch are this year's Rico Award finalists. The award, as voted on by the fans, honors the player who best demonstrates on-ice excellence, resiliency, and a dedication to the community.

Fans at the game can also enjoy 30 percent off the Sabres Store, $2 concession prices on popcorn, hot dogs, nachos and bottled non-alcoholic beverages. Lucky rows will receive giveaways and other prizes.
Select season-ticket members will also have the opportunity to join the team on the ice for the return of Jersey Off Our Backs, where they'll receive a player's game-worn jersey after the final horn.

The team will be wearing their white jerseys for the season's final White Hot Friday presented by New Amsterdam. A pregame happy hour with $5 domestic drafts will take place in the Blue Zone and Pink Whitney drink specials will be available in the New Amsterdam Bar until puck drop.

Click here for more details.