Sharpen Up: January 26, 2021 | Sabres take on Rangers tonight at home

New day, new division rivalry to stir up.
The Buffalo Sabres will face their new divisional opponent the New York Rangers tonight for the first time this season. Faceoff from KeyBank Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. The pregame show on MSG will start at 6:30 p.m. RJ and Rob will have the call on MSG and WGR 550.
Here's what you need to know.

Tonight's matchup

The Sabres won the last meeting between these two clubs 3-2 in New York on February 7, 2020.
With a victory tonight, the Sabres would have wins in consecutive matchups with the Rangers for the first time since they won three in a row from April 2, 2016 to January 3, 2017. Since then, New York has had a lot of success against Buffalo.
The Rangers have won seven of their last nine games against the Sabres, dating back to February 2, 2017 (7-2-0 record). In addition, the Rangers have won 16 of their last 21 games against Buffalo, dating back to April 19, 2013 (16-5-0 record).
But this is a new year.
Something to note about the way the Sabres' play has been trending in the right direction:
According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres rank near the top of the league at 5-on-5 in several underlying statistical categories that are typically predictive of success:
Through their first six games, the Sabres have led their opponents at 5-on-5 in each of these categories in every game except when they were out-attempted 51-49 by the Flyers in Buffalo's 6-1 win on Jan. 18.
Buffalo has also been the least-penalized team in the NHL at 4:10 penalty minutes per game.
The Sabres (plus-13) and the Rangers (plus-9) have the top two penalty differentials in the league entering Monday's games.
Rangers forward Artemi Panarin enters Tuesday's game on a four-game point streak, recording six points (2+4) during that span. Panarin has totaled 13 points (5+8) in 12 career games against the Sabres, included two points (1+1) in two games as a Ranger.
Meanwhile Eric Staal, who played part of the 2015-16 season with the Rangers, has goals in back-to-back contents and leads all Sabres players with 37 points (14+23) in 54 career games against New York.

Risto reaches milestones

If he dresses tonight (as he's expected to), it will mark the 500th game of Rasmus Ristolainen's NHL career. The Sabres defenseman, drafted eighth overall in 2013, will be come one of 30 players in franchise history to it the 500-game mark with the club, and the first to do so since Drew Stafford played his 500th game with the team on March 11, 2014 vs. Nashville.
He's been climbing the rankings in other stat categories too.
With his goal on Jan. 15 against Washington, Ristolainen broke a tie with Bill Hajt for the 10th-most goals by a defenseman in Sabres history. He now trails Tyler Myers and Jim Schoenfeld by two goals for eighth-most.
Ristolainen's first assist in Buffalo's last game in Washington on Sunday moved him past Jim Schoenfeld for the seventh-most career points recorded by a Sabres defenseman. He now trails Hajt by 14 points for sixth-most.
Thanks to @SabresPR and their Game Notes for those impressive numbers. We'll have more on Risto in today's Morning Skate Report.

Roster moves you should know about

The Sabres made a trio of moves yesterday evening in anticipation of tonight's game.
The team loaned goaltender Jonas Johansson to the taxi squad, and assigned forward Rasmus Asplund and goaltender Dustin Tokarski to Rochester.
That could mean goaltender Carter Hutton, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, could be ready to return to action. We'll keep you updated during the team's morning skate.

Amerks camp update

Tokarski won't be the only goaltender back at Amerks' training camp practice on Tuesday.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkoonen, Buffalo's second-round pick in 2017, is expected to join the club today.

Check out Amerks.com's latest training camp report here.
The Amerks will open their 65th season of play at home on February 5 against Utica.