Sabres Hope Changes Propel Offense

Nolan put Tyler Ennis on the right wing to go with Matt Moulson on the left and Zegmus Girgensons centering to form their new top line.

“We are at that point where we have to try anything," Nolan told reporters following Monday’s practice.  "When you run into obstacles you don’t stop and quit and you’ve got to find a way to get over it, around it or through it so we’ll try different things. We’ve got to get Matty Moulson going with Girgensons and Tyler; we feel that could be our legitimate number one line."

The other big chance involved Drew Stafford moving to center on the fourth line between Cody Hodgson and Nicolas Deslauriers; with a physically able to return Pat Kaleta also taking turns.

Stafford hasn’t played center since high school.

“It’s been a while, but I like studying the game and learn new things,” Stafford told Sabres.com Monday. “Over the years, it’s maybe been close to happening but with the lineups we’ve had, it’s just never come to fruition until now. We’re trying anything at this point, so we’ll give it a shot and see how it goes.”

Brian Flynn, Brian Giota and Torrey Mitchell formed a line as the Sabres got ready for St. Louis while Cody McCormick centered Marcus Foligno and Chris Stewart.

The Sabres have 20 goals this season and are tied with Florida for the league’s fewest, and that’s despite playing four more games than the Panthers. No one else is even close, with Carolina the next at 31 in three fewer games than Buffalo.

In all the Sabres have scored two or fewer goals in all but one of their 16 games this season.

"The only thing we have control over is putting them on the ice," Nolan told reporters after Saturday's 6-1 loss to Pittsburgh. "We can't skate for them, we can't shoot for them, we can't compete for them. You run out of words. Except you say it over and over again - you can't quit."

Offense... or defense for that matter isn’t likely to come easy tonight against the Blues.  St. Louis had won seven in a row before losing to Nashville, 2-1 Saturday their last time out.

The Sabres have hard a particularly hard time scoring on Kevin Elliott, who will be between the pipes for the Blues tonight.  Elliott owns a 10-0-2 record and 1.74 goals against average against Buffalo in his career.

The Blue offense is paced by Vladimir Tarasenko, who’s off to a blazing start with nine goals and 17 points in 14 games.  Jaden Schwartz has 12 points while defensemen Kevin Shatterkirk leads the team with 10 assists.

Two of the Sabres three defensive pairings appear to be locked in for tonight. Nolan told reporters he liked the way youngsters Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadarov skated against Pittsburgh last Saturday and will remain together.  Tyler Myers also stays paired with Josh Gorges.  At practice Monday Mike Weber skated with Tyson Stachan while Andre Benoit worked with Andrej Meszaros. While Nolan didn’t give confirmation to which pair will be scratches, it’s likely to be Benoit/Meszaros.

Nolan said Michael Neuvirth will get the start in net for Buffalo.

Puck drop is at 8pm EDT and televised on NBCSN.