Bought out by the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason, forward Jeff Skinner jumped at the opportunity to join the Edmonton Oilers when the Stanley Cup finalists came calling.
Seven months later, though, things haven’t gone as hoped for Skinner, who will face his former teammates for the first time Saturday when the Oilers host the Sabres.
“Obviously there’s a little bit more history so there’s more storyline, but, again, it’s another hockey game,” Skinner said.
Skinner has played most of the season on either third or fourth line, averaging a career-low 12:32 of ice time, and has been scratched five times, including three straight from Jan. 11-15. He returned to the lineup Jan. 16 before being scratched again Jan. 18.
The 32-year-old has seven goals and 15 points in 43 games with Edmonton. He has one goal in his past 13 games.
The Oilers will be hoping for more of what they saw from him in Edmonton’s 6-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, an outing in which he had multiple scoring chances.
“(He’s) really been snakebitten lately,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “It’s just been very unfortunate the puck hasn’t been going in at a rate that he’s definitely used to. … I feel it’s just a matter of time before they start going in.”
After a sluggish start to the season for the team overall, Edmonton has been on a roll since late November, going 20-6-1, including a 9-3-0 run in their past 12 games.
Skinner won’t be the only one facing former teammates, as the Sabres are expected to have Ryan McLeod back in the lineup against his former club.
The center, acquired via trade from Edmonton in the offseason, has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury. He rejoined his Buffalo teammates at practice Friday, and coach Lindy Ruff said he’s “good to go” on Saturday.
McLeod has been a solid addition for the Sabres and was playing some of his best hockey of the season before getting injured last week, including six points in his past four games. The 25-year-old has 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 45 games while averaging a career-high 15:35 of ice time.
On pace for a career-best 42 points, he’s three tallies shy of a new career high, five back of a new mark in assists and seven away from setting a personal best in points.
“He was playing well before he went out,” Ruff said. “Getting him back in, obviously we’ve had some big minutes from some young guys in the middle and he’ll help out with that.”
Buffalo is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday, its third defeat in its past four games after winning three of four. The Sabres led 2-1 in the second period amidst one of their strongest efforts at 5-on-5 but were done in by a woeful night for the power play, going 0-for-6 and giving up a pair of short-handed goals (one of which was an empty-netter).
“At the end of the game, I felt like they were winning more battles than us,” captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “We’ve got to win more battles.”
–Field Level Media
