Eurolanche

O'Reilly face Avalanche for 1st time

Season series: The Colorado Avalanche swept two games from the Buffalo Sabres last season. Rookie goalie Calvin Pickard made 28 saves, and forward Alex Tanguay had two goals in Colorado's 5-1 win at First Niagara Center on Dec. 20, 2014. Right wing Jarome Iginla had three assists in a 5-3 win at Pepsi Center on March 28. Iginla had six assists, and center John Mitchell and Tanguay each had two goals and an assist. Sabres defenseman Andrej Meszaros had two goals.

Sabres team scope: Center Ryan O'Reilly and left wing Jamie McGinn will play at Pepsi Center for the first time since being traded by Colorado to Buffalo on June 26. "It feels like forever ago that I was here," O'Reilly told the Sabres website Tuesday. "It's amazing, I feel like this is the city where I turned into a man kind of, coming in so young and all the experiences I had here." O'reilly leads the Sabres with 17 goals and 39 points. Goalie Robin Lehner will make his third start of the season. He made 27 saves in a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Friday in his first start since sustaining a right high-ankle sprain in the season-opener on Oct. 8. Defenseman Josh Gorges, who has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, could return. "He's been better in successive days, so there's a good chance we can see him," coach Dan Bylsma told the team website. The Sabres have won four of their past five games after a 2-1 win at the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.

Avalanche team scope: Goalie Semyon Varlamov, who had 36 saves in a 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, will start. Center Mikhail Grigorenko, who was a healthy scratch the past two games, will be in the lineup against his former team. Injured defenseman Erik Johnson (knee) skated Tuesday with the healthy scratches from the Winnipeg game and is on track to return to the lineup in the next week or so, the Denver Post reported. "[Johnson is] doing better," coach Patrick Roy told the newspaper. "I think he should be practicing with us [Wednesday] for the morning skate. … I'm confident he's going to be back soon." Johnson, who is on injured reserve, has been out since he was injured Jan. 4 against the Los Angeles Kings.

-- by Michael LoRe for NHL.com --