Game #12: Buffalo Sabres vs New York Rangers Open Thread

It's another intrastate battle for the Blueshirts on tap tonight. Coming off the heels of a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Monday, the Rangers are back in action tonight as the Buffalo Sabres are in town.

Another offseason of optimism in upstate New York has gone down the tubes rather quickly for the Sabres. Owners of the longest playoff drought in the NHL, Buffalo's quest to end that drought got off to a rocky start with a pair of season-opening losses to the New Jersey Devils in Prague. Sporting a 5-7-1 record coming into play tonight, the Sabres should not present much of a challenge to Peter Laviolette's 8-2-1 Rangers squad, but they play games to find that out, and that's what they'll do at Madison Square Garden.

Player to Watch: Kaapo Kakko

As per NHL rules, the Rangers will be dressing 18 skaters and two goalies tonight. Kakko will be one of those players, wearing #24 in blue and primarily skating as part of the third line with Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil. Kakko has only scored once this season, part of a three point effort earlier in the season against Montreal. Facing off against another Atlantic Division bottom feeder in Buffalo, keep an eye on Kakko tonight to find the score sheet.

Enjoy the game!