Both clubs come in rested. Tampa finished a road back-to-back in Minnesota and Winnipeg, and that 2nd night showed it: the Lightning had nothing through 40 minutes before scoring 3 in the 3rd. Andrei Vasilevskiy is projected in net for Tampa. Buffalo's last game was an afternoon loss to Vegas less than 48 hours after a Friday night win. Both teams have gone 3-2 in the last 5 and lost their most recent game, so neither has much momentum.
Tampa's road results lately have been close every time. They lost 5-4 in Nashville, won 4-3 in Minnesota and lost 4-3 in Winnipeg, all decided by 1 goal. The Lightning have scored at least 3 in every game of the last 5, which matters more now that they're without their 4th-leading scorer. Buffalo's last 2 road wins went the same way: 7-6 in Anaheim and 3-2 in LA. When the Sabres get the game into a track meet, they've hung around.
The injury picture on the Buffalo side has been building for weeks. Alex Lyon is still on IR with a shoulder injury, though he'll travel with the team on the upcoming road trip. Justin Danforth and Matt Grzelcyk are on injured reserve, and Helenius is out. None of that is new, but it limits Ruff's options on the 3rd and 4th lines and the 3rd pair. Puck drop is 7:00 PM ET on Wednesday, November 11. Tampa is still the deeper team, but Buffalo gets a Lightning lineup missing a big piece with a possible debutant filling in. For a club that needs points to climb out of 6th place, that's an opening.
