The Buffalo Sabres have won their three previous meetings with Montreal this season, and are attempting to post their first season sweep of the Canadiens since the 1983-84 season when the teams meet Wednesday night in Bell Centre.
As part of the old Adams Division, the Sabres went 8-0 against Montreal that year. It was part of a 12-game winning streak against the Habs that included a sweep of a best-of-three first-round playoff series in 1983.
The team's No. 1 defenseman, who sat out Sunday's 7-3 loss in Columbus due to lower-body soreness, returned to practice Tuesday in KeyBank Center and is likely to return when the Sabres open a three-game road trip Wednesday night in Montreal.
Montreal remains last in the NHL's overall standing at 11-33-7, but has won three straight for the first time this year after dropping its first three games under new coach Martin St. Louis. The Habs had a 5-0 lead through two periods Monday en route to a 5-2 win over Toronto.
The Sabres posted a 5-3 win Feb. 13 in Bell Centre, but that was when Covid-19 restrictions kept fans out. Quebec mandates are now allowing 50% capacity, and the crowd Monday was announced as 10,552.
People are also reading…
"It will definitely be a little bit of a different atmosphere," Sabres center Tage Thompson said. "Will be a little more exciting to play having some noise in the building. It should be good."
"I don't care how loud you turn the speakers up, the building is dead with no fans," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "You could see the jump in their players with the energy in the building. A different team for us this week than it was last week. ... They're starting to find a little bit of rhythm, so this is a big challenge for us."
Jeff Skinner had the first four-goal game of his career in Buffalo's last meeting with Montreal. He has nine points in three games this season against the Habs.
Olofsson out due to illness
Winger Victor Olofsson will not play in the game as he missed practice due to a non-Covid-19 illness and did not fly with the team. Assuming he feels better, Olofsson could rejoin the group for Friday's game in St. Louis.
To take his spot on the roster, the Sabres called up winger Brandon Biro from Rochester, although Granato would not commit to giving the Penn State product a shot at his NHL debut.
Biro has nine goals and 27 assists in Rochester, tied for the team lead in assists and third in points with 36.
Defenseman Will Butcher returned to practice and will go on the road trip to continue to work out with the team, although there's no timetable for a return to game action. Butcher said he suffered an MCL sprain in his knee during the Jan. 30 win over Arizona.
The goaltending rotation would give Wednesday's start to Dustin Tokarski.
Down the middle
What happened in Vegas the last four years (three Western Conference finals appearances, one Stanley Cup final appearance) doesn't stay there. It's the experience Alex Tuch can lean on to try to replicate with the team he grew up loving as a kid outside of Syracuse.
With Olofsson out and Biro not at practice, Granato experimented with an all-center line as Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt took turns at center and right wing, while Peyton Krebs manned the left wing.
Granato said he didn't know if he would use that trio together in a game but he just wanted to see them in multiple spots and took advantage of the absentees to put the trio together.
"For practice, it made complete sense," Granato said. "And it's consistent with the theme of these guys all have to play different positions. And, with everybody, we need that. We're going to keep evolving that as we go on."
Levi, Portillo reach Richter semis
The 11 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award as college hockey's top goaltender were named Tuesday, and the Sabres' two NCAA prospects both made the list.
Northeastern's Devon Levi and Michigan's Erik Portillo were named by the Hockey Commissioner's Association, and remain in the hunt for the award that will be given at the Frozen Four in Boston in April. Three finalists will be named next month and Levi is almost certain to be in that trio.
Levi, who represented Team Canada at the Beijing Olympics but did not get into a game, has a save percentage of .948 that ranks second in the country and a goals-against average of 1.55 that ranks third. Portillo is seventh in save percentage (.927) and 14th in GAA at 2.12.
Canisius goalie Jacob Barczewski was on the 35-man Richter Watch List, but was not named a semifinalist.
