Craig Anderson is expected to start in goal. Here's how the Sabres lined up this morning:
| November 22 at Montreal |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 77 JJ Peterka | 24 Dylan Cozens | 22 Jack Quinn |
| 71 Victor Olofsson | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 17 Tyson Jost |
| LD | RD | G |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 25 Owen Power | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen |
| 78 Jacob Bryson | 46 Ilya Lyubushkin | |
| | | |
Samuelsson sustained his injury on an attempted hit in the corner in Vancouver on October 22. He remained present in the meantime, mingling with teammates in the dressing room after skates and watching practices from the bench.
"I get bored pretty easy, so I like being around the guys," he said. "It's fun, makes you feel more a part of it rather than if you're injured and you just leave, you're kind of isolated. I tried to be around the group as much as possible even though I'm not playing."
Samuelsson spent the first five seasons playing on the top defense pair alongside Rasmus Dahlin, where he is expected to return tonight.
"He's a presence within the locker room, he's a presence on the ice," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "… He's an incredible athlete - size, speed, strength, agility. And he tiers everybody down in the sense that he comes in, he plays with Dahlin, that means nobody has to move up and fill that spot."
Video: PREGAME: Samuelsson
Samuelsson led the Sabres in shorthanded ice time prior to his injury and will resume that top-line penalty kill role upon his return. Girgensons, too, is a regular presence on the penalty kill while Jost has averaged over a minute shorthanded in each of the past three seasons.
"I found I really developed myself into a nice PK player and I pride myself on that," Jost said. "I want to help out here on the PK, for sure."
Read more about the addition of Jost here.
The Sabres have had two productive days of practice since their 5-2 loss in Toronto on Saturday, their eighth regulation loss in a row.
"I think if you let it weigh on you that much, it's only going to cause bigger problems," Samuelsson said. "Wake up, it's a new day, come to work, get better. If you give it your best effort, everything else should take care of itself."
Montreal took the first game of the season series 3-2 in Buffalo on October 27. The Sabres took 45 shots in that game but goaltender Sam Montembault rose to the challenge, opening the door for Josh Anderson to net the winning goal late in the third period.
It will be Jake Allen in goal for the Canadiens tonight. He is 6-6-0 with an .898 save percentage.
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are tied for the Canadiens lead with 11 goals each, while Suzuki leads the team in points (23).
