Carter Hutton made 28 saves Thursday. ©2019, Hickling Images

Sabres goalie Carter Hutton to start; Evan Rodrigues to sit again

BUFFALO – As promised, the Sabres held a team meeting this morning and skipped the pregame skate before their 50th anniversary home opener against the New Jersey Devils.

Except that to be the Sabres’ new routine. New coach Ralph Krueger believes his players do enough off-ice work to get their bodies ready.

In lineup news, Krueger said goalie Carter Hutton, fresh a strong 28-save outing in Thursday’s 3-1 win in Pittsburgh, will start tonight’s contest at KeyBank Center.

Hutton is 3-3-0 with a 2.48 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage in six career games against New Jersey.

The Sabres will utilize the same lineup as the season opener, meaning forward Evan Rodrigues will be scratched again.

New Jersey, meanwhile, imploded in its opener Friday, blowing a 4-0 second period lead and losing 5-4 shootout to Winnipeg.

“For 35 minutes, you definitely saw the danger of that group and how potent they are offensively,” Krueger said.

Slick Devils center Jack Hughes, the first overall pick in June, had zero points and registered one shot on goal in his NHL debut Friday.

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