The Buffalo Sabres are set to begin a five-game road trip on Monday afternoon against the Carolina Hurricanes, following a successful stretch at home. The team has posted an 8-1-0 record in its last nine road games and holds a 15-2-1 mark over its past 18 games overall. Their first stop will be at Lenovo Center, where the Hurricanes have led the Eastern Conference with a .721 points percentage at home since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Buffalo is aiming to break a 12-game winless streak in Carolina, having gone 0-10-2 there since 2016.
One of the main storylines for Monday’s game is the expected NHL debut of Konsta Helenius, Buffalo’s first-round pick from 2024. Helenius has tallied 30 points (nine goals and twenty-one assists) in thirty-four games for Rochester this season and was named an AHL All-Star.
“He’s got some bite to his game,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “He’s not your prototypical ‘talented’ guy. He gets into people, and he’s got a little physicality to him at the same time.”
Helenius joins the lineup as Josh Norris remains out due to injury but could rejoin during this road trip. “He could call us Tuesday, Wednesday, and say, ‘I’m doing pretty good here,’ join us for the tail end of this road trip,” Ruff said. “So, I wouldn’t rule him out for later in the week.”
Goaltender Alex Lyon practiced with Buffalo on Sunday for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on December 29 in St. Louis. Lyon has been activated off injured reserve and will back up Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on Monday; he is expected to play later this week.
Defenseman Michael Kesselring will sit out Monday’s contest as part of load management after returning from injury Saturday, with Buffalo facing back-to-back games.
Among current players, Alex Tuch (five goals, three assists) and Tage Thompson (five goals, eight assists) are both riding seven-game point streaks. Josh Doan has recorded ten points (five goals, five assists) over his last nine outings. The Sabres have also converted five power-play opportunities in their last fourteen attempts across three games.
Monday marks the conclusion of the three-game season series between Buffalo and Carolina; each team won its home game earlier this year. The Sabres dropped their previous matchup at Lenovo Center by a score of six to three while missing several key players but responded with a four-to-one victory at KeyBank Center thanks to strong defensive play and goaltending.
Carolina enters Monday tied atop the Eastern Conference standings with sixty-four points and leads all teams in shot attempt differential at even strength this season by more than three hundred over second-place Colorado. Brandon Bussi is expected to start in goal for Carolina.
Fans can watch locally on TNT or truTV or stream via HBO Max; radio coverage is available on WWKB 1520 or through the Buffalo Sabres app.
