Rodrigues to miss tonight's game in Florida, but Okposo draws back in

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Sabres will have Kyle Okposo back in the lineup for their game against the Florida Panther tonight, but they will be without the services of center Evan Rodrigues.
Rodrigues was absent from the morning skate and is dealing with an upper-body injury. Coach Phil Housley said they're going to be cautious with it.

"He got banged up. He's got a little upper-body injury so it's more a day-to-day situation with him, but he won't be playing tonight," Housley said.

Rodrigues had posted three points (2+1) in his past two games, including a goal in Buffalo's 2-1 overtime win in Tampa on Wednesday. He'd also been settling in on the top power-play unit in Jack Eichel's absence.
Okposo, meanwhile, missed the game against Tampa because he stayed back in Buffalo to attend the birth of his daughter. He arrived in South Florida yesterday, skated, and then got some much-needed rest.
He was able to watch Wednesday's game and thought that the team did a good job of not deviating from their game plan. That strategy will also likely apply to playing a Panthers team that is trying to make the playoffs.
"They have a lot of skill. Their D like to jump up in the play and they're pretty heavy down low," Okposo said. "We know what position they're in so we know we're going to get their best. They feel like they have to win all these games to get into the playoffs. So it's going to be a fun test for us. I'm looking forward to the game. It's going to be a good one."
Faceoff from BB&T Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tune in to the GMC Game Night pregame show starting at 7 on MSG. Then RJ and Rayzor will have the call of the action on MSG and WGR 550.

Projected lineup

67 Benoit Pouliot - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 23 Sam Reinhart
13 Nicholas Baptiste - 28 Zemgus Girgeosons - 21 Kyle Okposo
20 Scott Wilson - 22 Johan Larsson - 29 Jason Pominville
17 Jordan Nolan - 10 Jacob Josefson - 25 Seth Griffith
6 Marco Scandella / 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
93 Victor Antipin / 8 Casey Nelson
82 Nathan Beaulieu / 41 Justin Falk
40 Robin Lehner
31 Chad Johnson
Scratches: 4 Josh Gorges, 71 Evan Rodrigues
With Rodrigues out, Zemgus Girgensons will move to center.
"It's not going to be a hard transition for him," Housley said. "He does a lot of the heavy-duty work down low when he's playing as our low forward so we've moved him into the middle."
Robin Lehner will start in net.

Recent success on the road and in the division

The Sabres enter tonight's game with a 6-1-1 record in their last eight road games. Buffalo is seeking its first road win against the Panthers since Nov. 12, 2015.
Buffalo has had success against Atlantic Division opponents lately. They're 5-0-1 record in their last six games against division rivals opponents and have an 8-6-3 record against the division this season. Their last two wins were against Boston and Tampa and they'll go for three in a row tonight.
One of the keys has been the players gaining more and more familiarity with the coaching systems.
"We've been playing pretty simple. We haven't been trying to do too much. And [we're] playing a really structured game," Okposo said of their road games in particular. "I think our structure is starting to be second nature to us. And on the road, it just seems like we follow that structure really well and just play pretty simple. That's been definitely a bright spot.
"It's not a case of, 'Oh, what do I need to do here?' You just do it. You know. And then you're able to read the play and your hockey sense can take over once those systems become second nature for you."
The Panthers are three points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. They beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 last night at BB&T Center.
"We've just got to be ready because it's going to be a physical game. They're a team that likes to finish checks and we have to be prepared for that," Housley said. "We have to have a good pushback when they push. I think we did a really good job of that against Tampa. We were playing fast, we were getting pucks in, we didn't let them set up in their forecheck.
"In essence, we were coming off the rush, getting shots to the net and that's going to be key tonight. I think that's one area that we're going to focus on - is getting pucks in early."