When the ceremony honoring Rick Jeanneret is complete and the banner is raised to the rafters Friday night, the Buffalo Sabres have a game to play against another playoff team in front of a sold-out crowd in KeyBank Center.
The Sabres (24-33-11) will try to extend their point streak to eight games when they face the Nashville Predators (39-24-4) at 7 p.m. The previous meeting between the two teams ended with a 4-1 win for Buffalo in Bridgestone Arena.
Much has changed for the Sabres since that night in January. They went 8-3-3 in March, earning victories over Toronto, Minnesota, Vegas, Calgary, Vancouver, Pittsburgh and Chicago. Five of Buffalo's last six games have gone to overtime, including shootout losses to Washington and Winnipeg.
"I think our confidence has taken a leap forward," said Sabres winger Alex Tuch. "I think the game against Chicago really showed us that, 'Hey, ya know what, as long as we keep a positive attitude, as long as we never just give up.' ... To see us go down 4-0 against Chicago, and you could look down the bench and no one was hanging their heads. No one was like, 'It's over, it's 4-0.' Everyone was like, 'OK, well, let's go one goal at a time, let's go one shift at a time and see what we can do.'
"We've had a couple of those games where we've been able to come back, force overtime and play really well in the third period. I think that really goes to show the maturity of this group over the last couple months. Just to see us from Christmas until now, I think it's a completely different team and we're having a lot of fun with it, too."
The Sabres are also finally close to full health with Zemgus Girgensons, Craig Anderson and Vinnie Hinostroza back in the lineup. Aaron Dell was in goal against Nashville in January and stopped 29 of 30 shots in the win.
Sabres coach Don Granato wasn't prepared to say which goalie will be in net for Buffalo on Friday – Anderson or Dustin Tokarski – but defenseman Mattias Samuelsson will draw back into the lineup after sitting Wednesday with an injury.
Sabres’ lines/pairs at the morning skate:Skinner-Thompson-TuchAsplund-Mittelstadt-OlofssonKrebs-Cozens-HinostrozaGirgensons-Eakin-OkposoDahlin-JokiharjuSamuelsson-FitzgeraldBryson-PysykExtras: Bjork, Hayden, Butcher.
— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) April 1, 2022
Casey Mittelstadt, Jeff Skinner and Rasmus Dahlin each have six points in their last six games.
Nashville is on a two-game winning streak and has won six of its last 10 games. The Sabres will have to try to contain Roman Josi, who leads all NHL defenseman with 81 points this season. Josi, like Dahlin, routinely carries the puck down the ice to start the rush.
This is the start of a difficult final month for the Sabres, as they have 14 games in 29 days. The schedule includes matchups against Nashville, Florida, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Toronto, St. Louis and Boston.
And it all begins with the opportunity to impress an arena filled with fans.
"That's exciting to know that," said Granato. "I'm certain our guys will feel that energy and excitement, and the excitement of it being RJ Night. I think our guys are equally excited for both. It's pretty neat to see. You're going to feel and we already do feel the history of the Sabres. ... When you have the power that RJ is, we haven't had a sellout this year. You throw his name in the mix and it ties in 50-plus years and nobody wants to miss that.
"I don't know if there's any bigger tribute to RJ than when you look at our season and the talent that's in our locker room, and the potential that's in our locker room. But it's RJ Night and the building is filled up. That's pretty neat. It's pretty neat for our guys to be part of that."
The Sabres are asking that fans be in their seats by 6:40 p.m., when the pregame ceremony will begin to celebrate Jeanneret's storied career.
