Sharpen Up: January 16, 2019

The Sabres and Flames go at it tonight in Calgary. Stay up late with us starting with the GMC Game Night pregame show on MSG at 9 p.m. Dan and Rayzor will have the call on MSG and WGR 550 at 9:30.
Here's what you need to know.

Tonight's matchup

From the Game Notes…

Tuesday's practice

From the Ice Level Practice Report…
Coming into the season, the Sabres used honest conversation as a means toward rebounding from a last-place finish. They diagnosed what needed to change, opened the floor for players to speak and focused on learning to ride the waves of an 82-game season.
They had that experience to lean on when they came to work at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday, where they broke down what went wrong in a 7-2 loss in Edmonton the night prior.
"I think it's just more of being honest with each other," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "Obviously, we didn't like the way we played. To move forward, sometimes you've got to take a step back and look at what's going on.
"A lot of it is just the odd-man rushes and puck management, just having a greater respect that when we don't have the puck, something bad could happen. Obviously, we didn't have enough respect yesterday, and it cost us."

One area of growth that players have stressed throughout this season is the ability to stay even-keeled through the peaks and valleys of a season. They practiced it during their 10-game winning streak in November, and they're seeing the inverse of that now.
Yet, as alternate captain Zach Bogosian explained after practice, there's a difference between hanging your head and channeling emotion the right way after a lopsided loss. The defenseman said he expects an emotional response when the Sabres visit the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's a pretty easy bounce-back game for us tomorrow night," he said. "We've got to play better. We've got to compete harder, we've got to do everything better. I think we've got to worry about ourselves before we worry about the Calgary Flames."
There's more on Rasmus Dahlin in the full report here.

Today in Sabres history

1970: George "Punch" Imlach is named general manager and coach of the Sabres.

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