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The Buffalo Sabres played 11 games in October, and are winless (0-2-2) on the road, but have had some success on home ice, with a 4-2-1 record. After their third straight 4-3 overtime loss in Boston on Thursday, the Sabres return to the friendlier confines of KeyBank Center, to take on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. 

The Capitals are playing the second of back-to-back games after a 3-1 loss to the NY Islanders at UBS Arena on Friday, and will have backup Charlie Lindgren in goal. The Sabres, after a less-than-stellar performance from Alex Lyon will go back to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen between the pipes, but head coach Lindy Ruff will be forced to shakeup his forward lines due to the absence of winger Zach Benson.  

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“(Zach has) been struggling with the lower body (injury) for last couple of games, to the point where he’s not able to play.” Ruff said after the Sabres morning skate on Saturday. “I would say it’s short-term. I’ll lay this out there, maybe a week. But I’m not a doctor.”

Benson has been a good fit on the Sabres top line and first power play unit, with eight assists in eight games. His absence resulted in the recall of Amerks leading scorer Isak Rosen and a shakeup of two of the club’s four lines. Jordan Greenway, in only his second game of the season, was shifted to the top line, centering veterans Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson. The second line of Josh Doan, Ryan McLeod, and Alex Tuch and fourth line of Beck Malenstyn, Peyton Krebs, and Josh Dunne remain intact, while Rosen is slotted in with former Rochester linemate Jiri Kulich, and Jack Quinn,

Ruff indicated that Rosen’s good AHL start this season (5 goals, 7 assists in 8 games) was a major factor in his recall, and it marks one of the few instances that the 22-year-old has been given a chance in more of a scoring role with the Sabres. Playing mostly fourth line, the 2021 first-rounder has one assist in 15 career games.  

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