The Daily: Sabres May Use 7th Goalie, Evander Kane Debuts with Oilers

The NHL spotlight is on Evander Kane and the Buffalo Sabres’ net tonight

The Buffalo Sabres are technically down to their seventh choice in net tonight when they play at Arizona tonight. They lost their No. 6 goalie Michael Houser to the COVID list as their bizarre goaltending season continues.

Buffalo netminder Aaron Dell is serving his three-game suspension for his illegal check to Ottawa’s Drake Batherson. Other goalies are on the injured list.

But there is expected to be good news for the Sabres on their road trip. Dustin Tokarski and Craig Anderson are practicing with the team and might be ready. Anderson has been out since Nov. 2 with an upper body injury and Tokarski has been sidelined since Nov. 29. He’s been on the COVID list.

Can they play? Will they play? Tokarski said he’s day-to-day at this point. The hope is one or both might be able to play.

Mat Robson and Charles Williams are Buffalo’s minor league goalies in Rochester roster. Neither has played an NHL game or has an NHL contract.

Evander Kane Saga

Meanwhile, there is more drama in Montreal when Evander Kane makes his debut with the Edmonton Oilers. He hasn’t played this season. He was suspended for 21 games for faking his vaccination card. The Sharks, weary of dealing with Kane’s issues, clearly didn’t want him back. They terminated his contract because he violated COVID protocol rules.

Will he played with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl? Stay tuned for that news as well. This has been an interesting season.

The full story of the #Sabres latest bizarre day: The goalie situation gets dicier as Houser enters Covid protocol. But it looks like Anderson can play and there's a decent chance Tokarski can back up. So stand down on the "no goalies" replies. https://t.co/AqWyIuTdl2

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) January 28, 2022

Grand Rapids Griffins Update

The Griffins lost 4-1 to the Chicago Wolves Friday. They have dropped four of their last five games. Jonatan Berggren, off the COVID list, has no points in his last the games. Grand Rapids has a road game at Milwaukee tonight.

Around the NHL

Detroit: Goalie Calvin Pickard posted 36 saves to give the Red Wings the lift they needed to down the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout.

Also, Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman was quite glib this week when he was interviewed on national televison during the Chicago Blackhawks at Detroit Red Wings game.

Boston: Bruins forward Brad Marchand is spinning gold with his Twitter commentary. The Arizona Coyotes were his target this week.

Florida: Sam Bennett leads the Panthers in goals as he continues to take his game to a higher level.

New York: Hockey Now’s Stefen Rosner writes that GM Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz are both safe, even though the team has struggled this season. Most of the reasons why the Islanders have underachieved are out of Lamoriello’s and Trotz’s control.

Philadelphia: What’s wrong with the Flyers? Sam Carchidi says the team is crumbling late in games.