Buffalo, NY (WGR 550)  -- Craig Rivet could be back in the line up tonight against Montreal. The Sabres captain said, "I would like to play tonight and I feel like I'm ready to play." Lindy Ruff said with a smirk, "We'll make that a game time decision to see if he's ready by tonight, so it's possible."

 
After the morning skate, Patrick Lalime was sent to Portland to play two games. He'll play on Friday and Saturday for the Pirates and then come back to Buffalo on Sunday. Jhonas Enroth is back. After making his NHL debut in Boston, he was sent back to Portland and gave up eight goals in two games. He was then benched by Kevin Dineen for five games and since then has been great. He's was 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against and .970 save percentage. He had a 39 save shutout last time out against Manchester.
 

Montreal comes in six points behind Buffalo in the Northeast Division and have played three more games than the Sabres. The Habs have only won one of their last five games with the latest loss 3-0 at home to Toronto.

 

This season Carey Price is 7-10-2 with a 2.86 goals against and .909 save percentage. Price has played nine straight games going 4-3-2. In the first five games he gave up two goals in each of them. In the last four he's given up three in each. Lindy Ruff has noticed the improvement, "If you look at recently, Price has been back to his old self. He's faced a lot of shots at times and has been fantastic." The Sabres will actually get a break as Jaroslav Halak gets his first game since a November 10th loss to Calgary. Overall he's 5-3-0 with a 2.62 goals against and .904 save percentage. He's won both his games against Buffalo, but his numbers have not been good.

 

At the other end, Ryan Miller has done well vs Montreal going 13-5-5 with a .914 save percentage.

 

Scott Gomez returned from injury against the Leafs after missing four games. Hal Gill has missed 13 games while Andrei Kostitsyn has been out for three. Georges Laraque has been suspended for the past four games. Jaroslav Spacek missed a few games with an injury, but he has a goal and two assists in three games. Overall he has two goals and seven assists in 25 games.

 

I talked a few weeks ago about how Thomas Vanek had one minus game in his first 13 and then his plus/minus plummeted. He was minus nine in his next six games, but all of a sudden a switch in lines has changed that. Midway through the Carolina game Vanek went to LW with Tim Kennedy and Mike Grier. He has a goal and an assist and is plus three, He and Lindy Ruff both talk about the change in the pregame with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog. Spacek will also be on beginning at 6:00.