On defense, the Sabres have Jake McCabe (week-to-week), Casey Nelson (week-to-week) and Marco Scandella (day-to-day) all dealing with upper-body injuries. That's already created a role for rookie Lawrence Pilut, who skated 22:41 against Toronto on Tuesday, and now opens the door for Matt Tennyson to make his season debut.
Housley said the decision to recall Tennyson versus another of the organization's young defensemen in Will Borgen or Brendan Guhle came down to adding a veteran presence on the back end. Tennyson played 15 games for Buffalo last season and has played 120 NHL contests in his career.
"We needed somebody more stable back there," Housley said. "He went back his last game, he scored, he was physical, so that's great on his part to get back into a game. I just like his experience."
The Sabres won their last meeting with the Flyers, a 5-2 home victory on Nov. 21. They got off to a 4-0 start in the first period of that game, an experience Housley expects to motivate the Flyers coming into the rematch.
"I think they probably took a look at that game and, on our part, we executed really well but I'm sure they're going to be ready for the start of this game so they don't get down four," he said.
Coverage on MSG-B begins at 12:30 p.m. with the GMC Game Night pregame show, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 1.
