Sharpen Up: November 7, 2017

The Sabres are back home tonight to take on Washington. The Capitals are coming off a 3-2 overtime victory against Arizona last night where John Carlson scored the winner.
You can watch the action on NBCSN tonight starting at 7 p.m.

Could Nicholas Baptiste make his season debut tonight? We'll find out shortly, but based on yesterday's practice, the early indications are that we very well might:
Since being recalled to Buffalo for the first time this season last Wednesday, the opportunities for Nicholas Baptiste to make an impression on the Sabres' coaching staff have been limited. Having not played in either of the two games on their recent road trip, the only chances he had to get on the ice with the team came in morning skates.

Following his first full practice with the team on Monday morning, it appears an opportunity may be on the horizon. Phil Housley said that Baptiste will be a game-time decision against Washington on Tuesday, but his inclusion on a line with Sam Reinhart and Seth Griffith was a positive sign.
"It's a game-time decision right now," Housley said. "We're just trying to get a feel. We wanted to get him a good practice."

From the Game Notes

Another recall

The Buffalo Sabres today announced the team has recalled defenseman Zach Redmond from the Rochester Americans (AHL).
Redmond joins the Sabres for the second time this season after appearing in two games for the team following a recall on Oct. 21. With five points (1+4) through seven AHL games in 2017-18, the defenseman ranks fourth among all Rochester skaters with .71 points per game.
In a corresponding move, the Sabres have placed forward Justin Bailey on injured reserve.
The most up-to-date list of injured Sabres…
Evan Rodrigues (hand, Oct. 5; injured reserve) - 14 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct.5; injured reserve) - 14 games
Jacob Josefson (lower body, Oct. 17; injured reserve) - 8 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Oct. 20; injured reserve) - 7 games
Nathan Beaulieu (upper body, Oct. 21; injured reserve) - 6 games
Justin Bailey (lower body, Nov. 2; injured reserve) - 2 games
Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body, Nov. 4) - 1 game
Ristolainen remains day-to-day. Here's an update from the Ice Level Practice Report:
Housley announced that yesterday Nathan Beaulieu (upper body) and Josh Gorges (lower body) have both been skating and are on track to return to practice this week, while the status of Zach Bogosian (lower body) has improved from week-to-week to day-to-day.
"The bottom line is it's good to see that guys are starting to get healthy now," Housley said. "We've been depleted back there. It's given other guys opportunities, but it's good to see that we're getting close to healthy."
At forward, both Justin Bailey (lower body) and Evan Rodrigues (hand) have been skating and are considered day-to-day. Jacob Josefson, out since Oct. 17 with a lower-body injury, has not resumed skating at this point.
We'll have more info for you after today's morning skate at KeyBank Center.

will have your written Jani King Morning Skate Report and

will provide you with the Game Preview video.

This week's Prospects Report is out!

has all the latest news on players in the pipeline. Casey Mittelstadt has nine points in nine games with the University of Minnesota so far this year.
Here's a sampling of what he's been up to.

Click here for the full report with highlights of Brandon Hagel, Marcus Davidsson and more.

On this day in 1986…

Gilbert Perreault scores the final two goals of his NHL career in a 7-6 loss vs. VAN. Perreault's 512 goals as a member of the Sabres still stand as the franchise record, 130 more than the next closest player (Rick Martin-382).