The Buffalo Sabres will take the ice in Montreal for their second preseason contest of the year, tonight. 
Fresh off a 3-1 victory over Carolina on Monday, the Sabres will go with a line up heavy with veterans and only a few tweeners against Montreal. The lines are as follows:
Vanek – Roy – Pominville
Ennis – Leino – Stafford
Gerbe – Adam – Boyes
Foligno – Ellis – Kassian
The defensemen were listed by the Sabres’ Twitter as Ehrhoff, Regher, Myers, Gragnani, Schiestel and Persson. Whether or not those are in order of pairs, I can’t be sure (s/t to Kevin at sabres.com). UPDATE: It appears that Regher will skate with Myers. This probably meansEhrhoff will skate with Gragnani. Ryan Miller and Jhonas Enroth will split time in net. I would guess Miller gets the start with Enroth coming off the bench again.
With ten players sent back to junior – and an eleventh sent to the Central League – the lineup variations are significantly decreased. There are a handful of prospects and minor leaguers who may not see any time in the preseason, as the coaching staff will be trying to get good looks at the top prospects at their disposal. The fact of the matter is, some of these guys will be playing in Rochester and the Sabres’ coaches don’t want to limit ice time for one of their blue chips just to see what a third-line contributor in the AHL will do.
This line up is slightly surprising considering Lindy Ruff will be dressing his top two offensive lines and two, maybe even three, forwards who will fill out the bottom six. Outside of the Adam/Foligno/Kassian line, there are no fringe or bubble players taking the Bell Centre ice.
Splitting up Adam, Foligno and Kassian is slightly perplexing, although having Matt Ellis center Brad Boyes and Nathan Gerbe may be somewhat pointless. The players to watch listen for will be Boyes and Kassian. Kassian had a very average outing against Carolina and will need to amp up his performance if he hopes to fight for a roster spot. Boyes is in the same boat, he has Kassian and Ales Kotalik breathing down his neck for one of the final two right-wing spots.
The Boyes/Gerbe connection is another interesting pairing to keep an eye on. Gerbe and Paul Gaustad played well down the stretch with Boyes, Pat Kaleta and Mark Mancari manning the right-wing. If Boyes can keep that chemistry with Gerbe it would bode well for his chances.
With Ehrhoff, Myers and Regher all dressing there is a chance to see one of the two new acquisitions play with Myers on the blueline. The remaining defensemen – Gragnani, Persson and Schiestel – will all be split up after the top two are determined. My money is on Ehrhoff and Myers skating together while Regher pairs with Gragnani. Schiestel will need to outperform T.J. Brennan’s showing from Monday while Persson will need to prove he isn’t a total bust.
As for Gragnani, he seems to be getting the same treatment as Adam, Foligno and Kassian. These four are all question marks in terms of the NHL roster and overall potential. It seems as if the coaches and scouts want to give them every chance to prove they belong a the NHL level, even if there is no plan to keep them to begin the season.
The only thing I would like to see improve from Monday’s game is the power play. The Sabres were 0-4 with the man advantage and didn’t see to devote much to the unit. Lindy Ruff simple rolled his lines regardless of the situation. However, with Kotalik, Vanek, Roy and especially Ehrhoff likey to play, I would hope the coaching staff puts a little more emphasis on the special teams.
Otherwise I expect another ho-hum game with perhaps a little more intensity as both teams have had two more days of practice.
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