Buffalo Sabres (25–19–6) vs Chicago Blackhawks (18–24–9)
6:00pm CST
KeyBank Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN
PROJECTED STARTERS
Chicago – Cam Ward (8–8–4, SV%: .888, GAA: 3.87)
Buffalo – Carter Hutton (15–14–3, SV%: .911, GAA: 2.79)
TEAM STATISTICS
Power Play
Chicago (20.1%, 16th)
Buffalo (16.7%, T23rd)
Penalty Kill
Chicago (74.1%, 31st)
Buffalo (81.9%, 9th)
Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.4, 17th; 35.0, 30th)
Buffalo (32.3, T11th; 32.6, 24th)
Shooting %
Chicago (9.7%, 14th)
Buffalo (8.8%, 25th)
Faceoff %
Chicago (49.9%, 17th)
Buffalo (48.6%, T22nd)
Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
Buffalo 6’1” 199lbs
PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS
Chicago Blackhawks
Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad–David Kampf–Marcus Kruger
Chris Kunitz–Artem Anisimov–John Hayden
Slater Koekkoek–Erik Gustafsson
Buffalo Sabres
Jeff Skinner–Jack Eichel–Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary–Casey Mittelstadt–Evan Rodrigues
Remi Elie–Vladimir Sobotka–Tage Thompson
Zemgus Girgensons–Johan Larsson–Kyle Okposo
Jake McCabe–Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella–Nathan Beaulieu
Analysis
The Blackhawks return from their week-long break to take on the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo, New York. Friday’s match up begins a three-game road trip for the Blackhawks, before returning to the United Center on Thursday, February 7th. Friday’s game against Buffalo is the first game of a back-to-back, where the Blackhawks will play in Minnesota on Saturday night against the Wild.
Patrick Kane had a nice all-star weekend playing well in the games (2G, 2A) as well as showing off in the puck control competition, where he was the runner-up to Johnny Gaudreau. On Friday, Kane will return home to Buffalo, New York, where he will have the opportunity to register his 900th career point against his hometown team.
Expect a few lineup changes, notably on the blue line. On Thursday, January 31st, defenseman Henri Jokiharju was sent down to Rockford. It would not be surprising to see the Blackhawks audition defensemen for possible trades as the deadline approaches in the next month.
The Buffalo Sabres have faded of late. In their last 25 games, the Sabres are 8-13-4 which makes them the third-worst team in the NHL since American Thanksgiving. The Sabres have not been the same team that they were in the beginning of the season, where at one point, they led the Atlantic division.
The Sabres are coming off their own back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday after taking on the Blue Jackets and Stars on the road. After a big 5-4 win in Columbus on Tuesday, the Sabres were shutout in Dallas 1-0 against the Stars on Wednesday. The Sabres will look to get their momentum going, as Friday’s tilt against the Blackhawks begins a seven-game home-stand for the Sabres.