Buffalo looking to close out road trip on a high

Buffalo Sabres (44-20-6) vs Anaheim Ducks (38-27-4)

Puck Drop: 8:00 pm ET | Honda Center, Anaheim CA

TV: MSG-B, ESPN+

Radio: WGR 550, Sirius XM (app)

Know Your Opponent

Anaheim Ducks

Record: 38-27-4 | 80 PTS

Last Game: 4-1 win over Utah Mammoth; 5-4-1 in last ten games

Division Ranking: 1st, Pacific

PP: 27th, 16.8% (36/214) [Sabres: 16th, 20.7% (43/208)]

PK: 20th, 78.3% (177/226) [Sabres: 3rd, 83.1% (157/189)]

What to Watch

1. Keep The Focus

The Sabres have done an admirable job since December. 33 wins in their last 41 games, and 11 wins in their last 12 road games. They’ve been patient in games where they haven’t been able to jump into a big lead early on, learning and adjusting in the middle stanza and then pulling away in the final period. They will need to do that again.

One area they have not been tested often in is when they’ve had to come from behind. Thanks to timely saves and a potent offense, the Sabres have not played too much hockey trying to eradicate a lead.

2. Strong Competition

The Anaheim Ducks are no pushovers. While the Pacific Division is littered with mediocrity, the Ducks are one of the better teams in the West, and they paid a hefty sum for defenseman John Carlson at the trade deadline too. Their special teams has been quite ordinary, but their 5-v-5 play improves their overall stats. They are 9th in SAT% at 51.6 and are not often outshot in games. They are a high volume shooter with 30.2 per game, third in the league.

Both the Sabres and Ducks are at 54.5% for SAT% when behind, so no lead will be safe tonight.

3. Everybody Ropes, Everybody Rides

From Tage Thompson in the post-game after beating the Kings last night –

“We have a slogan that ‘Everybody ropes, everyone rides.’ It means there’s no job that’s too big or small for you to do out there. When everyone out there is doing those little things that aren’t very pretty but that show the guy next to you that you care about winning, it’s infectious.”

That’s the attitude in the team right now, and it’s incredible. That’s accountability right there.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Peyton Krebs – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Noah Ostlund – Josh Norris – Josh Doan
Zach Benson – Sam Carrick – Beck Malenstyn

Defense

Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram – Owen Power
Zach Metsa – Logan Stanley

Goaltenders

Alex Lyon (projected starter), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Anaheim Ducks

Forwards

Chris Kreider – Leo Carlsson – Troy Terry
Alex Killorn – Mason McTavish – Beckett Sennecke
Jeffrey Viel – Ryan Poehling – Cutter Gauthier
Mikael Granlund – Tim Washe – Keegan Kolesar

Defense

Jackson Lacombe – Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov – John Carlson
Olen Zellweger – Ian Moore

Goaltenders

Lukas Dostal (projected starter), Ville Husso

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