The decision to go with Nilsson was based largely on the fact that Buffalo is playing the second leg of back-to-back games, with Robin Lehner having gotten the start in a shootout loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday. It also couldn't have hurt that Nilsson was stellar against the Penguins already once this season.
Nilsson made 46 saves in that first meeting with Pittsburgh on Nov. 19, a 2-1 shootout win for Buffalo. While his starts have been few and far between since the beginning of February, Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said he trusts Nilsson to be able to step back into the net without having missed a beat.
"All year long, he's been one of our hardest working guys," Bylsma said. "In the situation he's been in the past three weeks where he hasn't gotten a lot of work, he's - minus the break there - he's stayed sharp, put in the effort. We have back-to-backs, we have a couple more back-to-backs and Anders will see net a little bit more."
Falk, meanwhile, has played well enough in his 41 games this season that the Sabres rewarded him with a one-year contract extension on Feb. 6. His absence from the lineup had less to do with his own play than it did with the fact that Buffalo finally got healthy on the back end.
With Kulikov day-to-day, Falk said his goal remains the same as it was when he came to Buffalo at the beginning of the season: to be a reliable, sturdy defenseman. It's a goal he's thought he's been able to accomplish for the most part thus far.
"I've felt that way," Falk said. "It's kind of what I wanted to bring coming here to showcase the new eyes here and bring some consistency and reliability on the back end. That's what I told I was going to bring and hopefully that's what I've done."
The Penguins lead the NHL with 217 goals this season, an average 3.44 goals per game. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin rank first and second in the NHL with 1.21 and 1.16 points per game, respectively. They are, however, playing without three of their top defensemen in Kris Letang, Olli Maatta and Trevor Daley.
The Sabres have done a better job in their last two games of limiting their opponents' scoring chances, a good template for how they'll have to play to be successful against the Penguins.
"That'll be the challenge tonight," Bylsma said. "We've done a much better job, I think playing the rush, playing the rush quickly, stuffing guys out and that's something we're going to have to deal with in spades tonight."
Matt Murray will start in net for the Penguins, who are 19-2-2 at home in 23 games since Nov. 26.
Coverage on Sunday begins at 4:30 p.m. with the Tops Pregame Show on MSG-B, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops between the Sabres and Penguins at 5 p.m.
