Well, Lindy did the expected, and bag-skated the team, along with a line shuffle. Here’s what they will look like according to Vogl at the Buffalo News:
Vanek – Roy – Stafford
Hecht – Connolly – McCormick
Gerbe – Gaustad – Kaleta
Ennis – Niedermayer – Grier
Reuniting Vanek and Roy is good, and Stafford isn’t terrible so far. McCormick might give the Connolly line a spark with some hard work and hits. That third line could be sneaky good, as Kaleta has some offensive upside, combine that with Gerbe’s speed and Goose’s size in front of the net and you might have something. On the whole, it’s a good balance, every line should be able to contribute at both ends.
On D, Morrisonn is doing the lonely ‘skating on his own’ and will be out tonight. Miller should get the start in net.
While the Atlanta games are never easy for Buffalo, even without Kovalchuk in the mix, it’s winnable. It could even be a get-right game, with Chris Mason and a 3.0 GAA in net. Ondrej Pavelec is still out after collapsing on the ice, though he should be back soon, which is great. I probably won’t get to watch the beginning of the game with family commitments, but I’ll try and get in by the second period.