Ruff Looking for New Sabres Standard Versus Senators

Finishing has become the focus of Lindy Ruff’s Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night for the first time this season in a matchup of division rivals. The Senators have had the more successful start to the season, going 6-5-0, despite being considered in the same state of roster building as Buffalo.

Much of the focus will be on the potential return of sophomore forward Zach Benson, who rotated yesterday with Jiri Kulich on a line with Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn. The duo has missed Benson’s defensive presence and could use any offensive spark the former first-round selection can provide.

Where to Watch

Gametime: 7:00 p.m. ET

Location: KeyBank Center (Buffalo, NY)

TV: MSG; RDS2, TSN5

Stream: MSG+; ESPN+ (Out of market)

Radio: WGR550

Sabres Gameday

The Sabres are trying to snap a three-game losing streak. They’ll rely on their top forwards to do a lot of the heavy lifting, as the secondary scoring has tailed off for Buffalo at five-on-five.

Tage Thompson has been dynamic at home this season, registering eight points in his last five home games. His line is expected to have JJ Peterka back on the left wing, which has been a dangerous combination for Buffalo this season.

Zach Benson is still on injured reserve, so the Sabres must make a corresponding move if he is deemed healthy enough to play against the Senators. Sending Jiri Kulich down to AHL Rochester is the obvious choice, although the rookie did participate in the morning skate.

Connor Clifton is primed to sit again for the Sabres, with Jacob Bryson likely drawing back in the lineup. “I just think he needs to elevate his play,” Ruff said of Clifton. “The standard has to be higher.”

Raising the standard and finishing plays have been the two common themes of late from Ruff as he continues to push this Sabres squad to be better.

More: Former Sabres Forward Should Be on Adams’ Trade Radar

Ottawa Senators

The Senators have been night and day on the road and at home this season. Their 5-1-0 home record is one of the best in the NHL, while their 1-4-0 road record is among the league’s worst.

Buffalo’s focus in shutting down the Senators will be stopping their potent powerplay, which features Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, and Jake Sanderson. They’re scoring on one out of every three opportunities, which is good for the third-best rate in the NHL.

Old friend Linus Ullmark is likely to start for the Senators in net. The former Sabres goalie has been the slightly worse of the two netminders in Ottawa, with one less win than Anton Forsberg and posting a .902 save percentage to Forsberg’s .910.

Injury Report

Buffalo Sabres

• Zach Benson (Lower Body) Day-to-day [IR]

Ottawa Senators

• Artem Zub (Concussion) Day-to-day
• David Perron (Personal) Out
• Shane Pinto (Undisclosed) Out

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards (Projected)

JJ Peterka – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch

Zach Benson/Jiri Kulich – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn

Jordan Greenway – Ryan McLeod – Jason Zucker

Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Sam Lafferty

Defense (Projected)

Bowen Byram – Rasmus Dahlin

Owen Power – Jacob Bryson

Mattias Samuelsson – Henri Jokiharju

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Ottawa Senators

Forwards (Projected)

Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stutzle – Ridly Greig

Claude Giroux – Josh Norris – Drake Batherson

Noah Gregor – Zack Ostapchuk – Michael Amadio

Nick Cousins – Adam Gaudette – Zack MacEwen

Defense (Projected)

Jake Sanderson – Travis Hamonic

Thomas Chabot – Nick Jensen

Tyler Kleven – Jacob Bernard-Docker

Goalie (Projected)

Linus Ullmark

Source: TSN 1200 Ottawa

Previous Game: 3 Things That Need Fixing From Sabres Loss to Red Wings

Betting Breakdown

With PuckLuck favoring the Sabres, there is an edge on betting them over the Senators tonight. Buffalo is a consensus even-money to plus-money bet, as the sportsbooks distinguish them as the home underdogs today.

Streaking teams, in either direction, are never as good or as bad as they seem in the moment. These are the kind of games the betting model loves to exploit, as trends can trick the public into tilting the odds a certain way.

The Sabres have been better at home than on the road, so the bet makes sense from that standpoint as well. Make sure to confirm with PuckLuck.com on lineup changes and betting lines throughout the day, but Buffalo is an early value bet tonight.

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For more betting analysis across the NHL, head over to PuckLuck.com.

*PuckLuck.com provides data related to gambling and cannot guarantee the success of any suggested or related wagers. Please gamble responsibly.*

For the Ottawa Senators’ point of view, head over to Ottawa Hockey Now.