NFL stars might make more money than hockey stars, but teams playing in Buffalo this week would probably rather play at the indoor hockey arena than the outdoor football stadium.
The Utah Hockey Club makes its first and only visit to Buffalo on Saturday, where it will take on the Sabres in an afternoon game. After that, it heads to Philadelphia, where the Flyers await.
If Utah HC can win both games on its upcoming road trip, it will be right back in playoff contention. The team views both as winnable games.
At the time of writing, the Sabres are tied with Utah HC in points and games played (although they play on Thursday night, so that will change). After that, the team visits the Philadelphia Flyers, who are battling to maintain their place in the second wild card spot.
Get to know the Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres are currently in the longest playoff drought in NHL history: 13 seasons. As much as they’d love to change that this year, things aren’t looking good for them so far.
At this point in the season, the standings can change drastically over the course of just a few games, but the Sabres are currently the fifth-place team in the Atlantic Division. There are four teams between them and the second wild card team, so they need to start winning soon if they’re going to make up all that ground.
Their last game was a heartbreaker. They took a 4-0 lead in the first period against the Colorado Avalanche, but they ultimately lost 5-4 in regulation. They’ll have some extra motivation in their next game.
Two Sabres players were selected this week to represent their countries at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament: captain Rasmus Dahlin and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (don’t click on that link — It’s really dumb).
Notable Sabres snubbed from the tournament include 6-foot-6 center Tage Thompson and high-scoring power forward Alex Tuch, both of whom would have played for Team USA.
Another name left off the list was defenseman Henri Jokiharju, who was skipped in favor of Utah defensemen Juuso Välimäki and Olli Määttä. Jokiharju might be a little extra motivated on Saturday to show Finland’s management team that he deserved to get the call.
Much like Utah HC, the Sabres’ roster is riddled with talented young players. The struggle right now is just playing consistently enough to have sustained success.
More milestones
Last game was the 500th of Mikhail Sergachev’s career. This game is Michael Kesselring’s 100th.
This has been a major breakout season for 24-year-old Kesselring. He has embraced his new role as a top-four defenseman with the long-term injuries to John Marino and Sean Durzi and the team would be much worse-off without him.
“(It’s) just confidence level,” Kesselring told the Deseret News in November, when asked what he’s done differently this year. “I think I came in this year knowing that I was ready to go, 100 percent.”
In addition to his defensive responsibility and physical nature, the 6-foot-4 defenseman has found his scoring touch. He has operated at roughly half a point per game so far — something he hadn’t done since his days with the Fargo Force of the USHL.
Where to watch Utah Hockey Club vs. Buffalo Sabres
The game will be televised on Utah 16 and Utah HC+.
There’s no sleeping in on Saturday for Utah HC fans. It’s an afternoon game on the east coast, which means it’s a morning game in Utah, starting at 11 a.m.