Sabres look to continue success against McDavid, Oilers

EDMONTON - Rasmus Ristolainen knows as well as anyone that stopping the Edmonton Oilers begins with slowing down No. 97.
The defenseman knocked on the wooden stall in the visitors' dressing room at Rogers Place when reminded he'd done a pretty good job at it in the past.
"It's a challenge for me, for the team, every [time]," Ristolainen said. "He's a top-two player in the world right now so you know it's a big challenge. You want to see where you're at and as a team too. If you want to get two points tonight, you've got to start shutting him down first."

The Sabres will look to get back on track when they open their three-game swing through Western Canada against Connor McDavid and the Oilerts tonight. It was around this time last year that the Sabres swept this same trip, including a 5-0 shutout of the Oilers.
In fact, the Sabres have won four straight games against the Oilers dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season. They've held McDavid to just two assists and a minus-4 rating in those games, including no points in two meetings last season.
The matchup has brought out the best in Ristolainen, who has 12 points in nine career meetings with the Oilers. He's contributed multi-point efforts in each of the last four contests between the two teams.
"It's not one guy or two guys," he said. "It's a whole team, how we play. The best difference is when we have the puck in their zone and play offense. I don't think they like to play there. We've got to take advantage of their D corps."
The Sabres and Oilers have been linked because of their top-end talent from the 2015 NHL Draft, but the similarities this season go beyond McDavid and Jack Eichel. Both teams are playing through adverse stretches (the Sabres are 3-6-1 in their last 10; the Oilers are 3-7-0), but both remain in the thick of playoff contention in their respective conferences.
Buffalo is looking to rebound from back-to-back losses against Carolina and Tampa Bay. They allowed three own goals in the former game and were tied until the last five minutes of the latter.
"We've ended up on the wrong side of one-goal games," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "It's something we have to focus on, just playing a simple road game. I know it's an old cliché, but the more we can keep it simple and try to get pucks in deep and go to work and forecheck, it puts the other team in a defensive posture. We've definitely got to manage and simplify our game."
Coverage on MSG-B begins at 8:30 p.m. with the GMC Game Night pregame show, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 9.

Projected lineup

Nathan Beaulieu will dress for the first time since Dec. 31, stepping in for Lawrence Pilut on a defense pair with Marco Scandella. He's scored seven points (3+4) in 25 games this season.
"We have eight very bona fide, good defensemen back there," Housley said. "I thought Nate earned an opportunity to get back in the lineup. I like what he brings. He's a physical player, he skates well, he moves the puck well. He'll get an opportunity on the power play tonight so it's good to have him back in the lineup."
Carter Hutton will start in net. The rest of the lineup will remain the same, with Pilut, Matt Hunwick and Remi Elie expected to be scratched.
Here's how the team lined up at the morning skate:
53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart
43 Conor Sheary - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 72 Tage Thompson
17 Vladimir Sobotka - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 29 Jason Pominville
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 22 Johan Larsson - 21 Kyle Okposo
19 Jake McCabe - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 4 Zach Bogosian
6 Marco Scandella - 82 Nathan Beaulieu
40 Carter Hutton
35 Linus Ullmark