After a 5 game road trip, during which the Pens went 2-1-2, the team has returned to play the Buffalo Sabres (32-25-8, 72pts). Buffalo is coming off of a great weekend, in which they overcame a 2 goal deficit to beat the Flyers and then beat the Wild in OT the next day. The Sabres have snuck into the 8th spot in the East and desperately need every point they can get. After a rare game off, Ryan Miller gets the start against the Pens tonight. Miller has started 53 of Buffalo's 65 games and comes into the game with a 2.66 GAA and .914 save percentage. Miller has struggled against the Penguins historically though, going 4-8-3 in his career with a 3.26 GAA and .884 save percentage. Drew Stafford will be the forward to watch for the Sabres as he leads the team with 26 goals and has scored 4 hat tricks this season.
The Penguins (38-21-8, 84 pts) have somehow found themselves 2 points out of 1st place in the conference, though they have played 2 more games than the leading Flyers. Eric Godard is eligible to play tonight after serving his 10 game suspension and there is a chance Chris Kunitz may return to the lineup as well. Kunitz has been skating with the team over the past 3 days, but has not taken a regular spot in the lineup for practice yet. As of practice today, the lines are the same as they were over the past weekend (per pittsburghpenguins.com):
Neal - Letestu - Kovalev
Cooke - Staal - Kennedy
Talbot - Jeffrey - Dupuis
Rupp - Adams - Conner
Martin - Michalek
Niskanen - Letang
Engelland - Lovejoy
Fleury
Kunitz is expected to be a game-time decision, and stated at practice that he feels good enough to play (pittsburghpenguins.com). Marc-Andre Fleury gets the nod in net as usual, and has played spectacularly against Buffalo this season. The Penguins are 3-0 this season against the Sabres, with Fleury starting all 3 games and posting a 1.34 GAA and .958 save percentage.
The last time these teams met, the Penguins fell into an early 2-0 hole, but came back to win the game 3-2 in regulation thanks to goals by Dustin Jeffrey, Tyler Kennedy, and Matt Cooke. This was also the game in which Tyler Myers hit Evgeni Malkin's knee awkwardly, ending his season.
Prediction: The Penguins have gone to overtime in 7 of their past 9 games and it's hard to see this one being any different. The Pens have had to fight for every goal they've scored lately, and Buffalo has gotten a lot of bounces as they've moved into the top 8. I expect those bounces will continue and this will be the game where Ryan Miller finally earns his money against the Penguins. 3-2 Buffalo, in a shootout.
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