Saber in penguins | Instructions, storylines and more

Storylines

1. The lineup

JJ Peterka practiced again on Tuesday and was not ruled out after missing the last two games with a concussion.

“JJ had a good day,” Sabers coach Lindy Ruff said after practice. “So I really hope he plays tomorrow.”

Peterka suffered a concussion on October 5 as a result of a hit on open ice by New Jersey defenseman Brenden Dillon. He has been training regularly with the team since October 9th.

Stay tuned for lineup updates from the Sabres’ Morning Skate, scheduled for 11 a.m

2. Let’s exercise physically

The Sabers pointed out that they were harder to play against in the offseason when they brought in Ruff as coach and added a trio of hard-hitters to the roster in Beck Malenstyn, Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. They reinforced this initiative with rigorous competitive training throughout training camp and into the beginning of the season.

The early returns were obvious. The Sabers rank second in the NHL with an average of 28.00 goals per 60 minutes. Their total of 112 hits is tied for fourth place.

Malenstyn is tied for ninth in the league with 14 goals, one of four Sabers in double figures, along with Jordan Greenway (12), Mattias Samuelsson (11) and Dylan Cozens (10).

Ruff has spoken in recent days about how being physical doesn’t mean running around chasing hits (though it also means finishing checks when the opportunity arises). It’s more about using physicality to finish plays on defense and get moving in transition.

“We’re talking about everyone getting physically involved,” Ruff said. “Like cutting people off in the neutral zone, getting in front of people and finishing plays in the D-zone. I like what we did in the D-zone where we get out quick and that starts with us getting physical with the guy in the corner.”

3. Explore the penguins

Pittsburgh rebounded from a 6-0 loss to open its season by winning two of three games on its most recent road trip, thanks in large part to the play of Evgeni Malkin.

Malkin enters Wednesday tied for the NHL lead in assists with six. His seven points are tied for fourth place. He set up goals for Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell and then added an unanswered goal of his own in Tuesday’s 6-3 win over Montreal.

Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan drew attention to Malkin’s developed defensive game in his postgame comments to the media following the win in Montreal.

“I think he looks strong,” Sullivan said. according to the Penguins website. “He’s in great shape. I think he’s trying to play the game the right way. We talked to him a lot about certain aspects of his game. We can see he’s making a concerted effort out there to try and play the game the right way.

“We asked him to limit his running in the defensive zone or his play away from the puck a little bit and not play on the move so much. I think he tries to do that when the time calls for it. But I think he looks really strong and still has the ability to take over the game at certain times.”