Sure, there was plenty of talk about hockey in HSBC Arena this morning. The Sabres and Atlanta Thrashers are tied with 60 points so tonight's game is a big one in the standings. Lindy Ruff is shuffling his lines (but some of the forwards weren't on the ice for the optional morning skate so we don't know the combinations). We do know Thomas Vanek is moving to right wing and Tim Connolly will be centering Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford.
But the night will certainly belong to Terry Pegula, in his first game as owner.
"It should be a lot of fun. There's going to be a lot of emotion in the building," said coach Lindy Ruff. "The game has a lot of a playoff feel to it. They're desperate for a win, we're desperate for a win. We know we need to play well, to play a lot better. We had a great day yesterday and hopefully all that focus goes into tonight's game."
"I'm sure their whole family is going to be here," said Jason Pominville. "We wouldn't want anything better than to get a win for them and a win for us in the standings."
"It's going to be electric," added Thomas Vanek. "It's exciting for the fans, for us. I'm real excited to have a guy that really, really cares. That's always fun. That's all you can ask for."
Ruff said he will keep the same defense pairs as Sunday (meaning Andrej Sekera will again join Craig Rivet as a scratch) but will shuffle some forward lines.
Click below to hear audio from Ruff, Pominville and Vanek.
Lindy Ruff
Jason Pominville
Thomas Vanek
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
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Sabres game day
