Sabres vs. Devils | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

It’s a black-and-red Black Friday as the Buffalo Sabres take on the New Jersey Devils at KeyBank Center.

The Sabres are coming off a 4-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, a game in which they managed just 12 shots on goal through two periods. They woke up in the third, though, and nearly came back thanks to a push from the second line of Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod and Jack Quinn. Zucker and Quinn both scored.

“It was a game where I thought that McLeod line dominated, for the most part,” coach Lindy Ruff said postgame.

Quinn is up to six goals this season after scoring in three straight games, which is hardly a coincidence; each of the three has been assisted on by Zucker, the veteran winger who previously missed three weeks due to illness.

“He’s just a really good player,” Quinn said of Zucker, who himself has six points (2+4) since returning. “Really fun to play with, makes players better around him. Great vision, and he’s just a gamer. He wins so many battles, and you feel like you’re playing offense way more with him.”

And McLeod has proven effective with most wingers, having also centered Josh Doan and Alex Tuch earlier this season with great results.

The Zucker-McLeod-Quinn line has dominated its 35:24 of 5-on-5 ice time since joining forces last Friday against Chicago, outscoring opponents 6-0 with significant shares of expected goals (75.3%), shot attempts (60.5%), shots on goal (59.5%) and scoring chances (71.4%), per Stathletes.

As the Sabres’ forward group continues to get key guys back from injury – Zach Benson returned Sunday; Josh Norris could play as soon as this weekend – McLeod’s line should continue to provide valuable middle-of-the-lineup production.

Here’s what you need to know before the 4 p.m. puck drop against New Jersey.

How to watch

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 3:30 p.m.)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, ESPN+ (out of market)

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Lineup notes (updated 3:35 p.m.)

Norris (upper body) remains day to day and won't play versus New Jersey.

• Injuries and transactions | Latest on Norris, Kesselring, Danforth, Kulich

Forward Jordan Greenway will re-enter the lineup after missing two games for load management purposes.

Here are the lines from warmups, with Alex Lyon starting in net:

Home-ice success

The Sabres, now 8-4-2 at KeyBank Center, just wrapped up a 3-1-0 homestand by beating Carolina on Sunday. Their winning formula during that stretch included scoring first, leading after 20 minutes and producing on the power play, going 3-for-8 in those wins.

Eight goals against Ottawa and nine against Chicago skew things a bit, but Buffalo’s 3.43 goals per game at home rank sixth in the NHL this season.

The goaltending has been strong, too, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis combining for a .913 save percentage at home – seventh best leaguewide.

The Devils are 6-7-0 on the road this season, including three straight losses, and they’ve lost their last three visits to KeyBank Center dating back to March 2023.

Scouting the Devils

This is Buffalo’s first of three matchups with the Devils, who enter Friday leading the Eastern Conference with 31 points. Six of their 15 wins have come past regulation, including Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime win over St. Louis – defenseman Simon Nemec, with 14 points this season, scored the 3-on-3 winner.

New Jersey comes to town without leading goal scorer Jack Hughes, who recently underwent finger surgery after a non-hockey incident.

Veteran goalies Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen have seven wins apiece. Allen’s been more effective with a .908 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average, compared to Markstrom’s .874 and 3.56.