Sharpen Up: September 21, 2018

It's a game night in Toronto. The Sabres and Maple Leafs will go head to head in preseason action tonight at 7:30 p.m. Watch the Sportsnet feed of the game on MSG or listen to Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray call the action on WGR 550.
Both teams will be back at it tomorrow night at KeyBank Center.
Here's what you need to know.

Reinhart and Bogosian return to practice

From yesterday's practice report, where Sam Reinhart was back with the team after signing a two-year contract on Wednesday and Zach Bogosian practiced after sitting out over the weekend as he works his way back from shoulder surgery:
While the rest of his teammates prepared for the start of training camp last Thursday, Sam Reinhart was catching a flight to Vancouver. What followed, he said, was about as challenging a week as he's had in hockey.

Reinhart continued to skate in his hometown until Wednesday, when he and the Sabres agreed to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $3.65 million. He was already booking flights back to Buffalo on Tuesday night, and he was all smiles following his first practice with the team on Thursday.
"I think my dad's probably the happiest guy to get me out of the house again," Reinhart said. "I was pretty miserable for a couple of days but was able to stay on the ice and train back in Vancouver, and ultimately that's why I went home.
"… At the time it probably seemed like two years being away, but now it seems like two days. I'm thrilled to be back."

Reinhart made it a point to arrive in Buffalo ahead of camp in August, as he would for any other season. Having been a part of informal sessions with his teammates during that time proved to be invaluable. He didn't feel like he was playing catchup on Thursday, instead comparing the absence to one caused by a minor injury.
"Looking back at it, I think the best thing I did was coming early and being around the guys because now it just feels like I missed a few days and I'm right back with the team," he said.

Bogosian practiced with the team for the first time since last Sunday, returning to a defensive pair with Nathan Beaulieu. His absence was part of a calculated plan to ease the defenseman into camp after undergoing hip surgery in January.
"It was good," Bogosian said. "Obviously coming back from a major surgery, you're trying to check off all the boxes. Just precautionary stuff, just trying to make sure everything's going as smooth as possible. It felt good."
Bogosian was a full participant in the 90-minute session, which concluded with a 2-on-2 battle drill.

Tonight's matchup

Coach Phil Housley said that it's a safe assumption that the lineup for Friday will be pretty close to the group that practiced in Thursday's first session...
92 Alex Nylander - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 72 Tage Thompson
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 17 Vladimir Sobotka - 52 Andrew Oglevie
49 C.J. Smith - 12 Kevin Porter - 13 Nick Baptiste
41 Victor Olofsson - 74 Rasmus Asplund - 46 Eric Cornel / 77 Vasily Glotov
45 Brendan Guhle - 8 Casey Nelson
24 Lawrence Pilut - 5 Matt Tennyson
44 Brandon Hickey - 38 Zach Redmond
61 Devante Stephens - 27 Taylor Fedun
35 Linus Ullmark
32 Adam Wilcox
34 Jonas Johansson
…And that Saturday's game group could look like Session 2:
53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
71 Evan Rodrigues - 10 Patrik Berglund - 23 Sam Reinhart
95 Justin Bailey - 22 Johan Larsson - 21 Kyle Okposo
20 Scott Wilson -51 Kyle Criscuolo - 65 Danny O'Regan / 64 Tyler Randell
6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 19 Jake McCabe
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 4 Zach Bogosian
33 William Borgen
40 Carter Hutton
31 Scott Wedgewood
50 Michael Houser
Tickets for Saturday's game are on sale now.

Storytime with Marty