Sabres at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning will be short-handed as they attempt to avoid a third consecutive setback when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. Victor Hedman has already been ruled out of Saturday's game amid fears he suffered a concussion on Thursday while fellow defenseman Nikita Nesterov received a two-game suspension from the NHL on Friday for boarding in the previous night's game.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said Friday that Hedman was feeling better after hitting his head against the boards following a hard hit by Dallas captain Jamie Benn. "He's a really good defenseman in this league," Cooper said. "You don't want to lose any of your guys, especially him." The Lightning will get their second look at No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel, who was held off the scoresheet in a 4-1 home loss to Tampa Bay on Oct. 10. That marked the fifth consecutive victory in the series for the Lightning, who have limited the Sabres to three goals in that span.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (Buffalo), SUN (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE SABRES (1-3-0): Defenseman Jake McCabe, who did not play in the opening two games of the season, scored his first career goal in Thursday's 3-2 loss to Florida. During Friday's practice, Buffalo coach Dan Bylsma had a lengthy chat with third-year forward Zemgus Girgensons, who has yet to score through the first four games. "I don’t think I’ve ever questioned Zemgus’ effort, but we need to be better in some areas," Bylsma said. "That’s our conversation."
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (3-2-0): Nesterov had received a five-minute penalty and game misconduct for his behind-the-back hit on Stars forward Curtis McKenzie, who was on crutches Friday and will be place on injured reserve - a check termed "pretty dirty" by Dallas' Jason Spezza. Nesterov said he didn't intend to intentionally hurt McKenzie and called it a "bad situation." Tampa Bay recalled defenseman Slater Koekkoek from Syracuse of the American Hockey League.
OVERTIME
1. Lightning G Ben Bishop is 7-0-1 with a 1.71 goals against average in eight career starts versus the Sabres.
2. Buffalo has struggled while short-handed, allowing two power-play tallies in each of the last two games.
3. Tampa Bay owns the league's worst penalty kill, yielding seven power-play goals in five contests.