Sharks at Sabres preview

SHARKS (3-5-0) at SABRES (7-1-1)
7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

Hutton, 5-0-0 with a 1.39 goals-against average and .953 save percentage this season, can equal the three consecutive shutouts by Martin Biron from Jan. 18-24, 2003.
Hutton has not allowed a goal in 128:36, which is 2:15 shy of tying his NHL career longest streak of 130:51, set from Feb. 16 to March 3, 2017.
A win would also make him the third Buffalo goalie to win his first six starts in a season, after Biron (6-0-0) and Ryan Miller (8-0-0) each did so in 2006-07.
The Sharks, who open a five-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents, can win for the fourth time in five games (3-1-0) after opening the season 0-4-0.

Players to watch

Sharks forward Tomas Hertl has scored a goal in three straight games and has six points (also three assists) in a three-game point streak.
Sabres forward Casey Mittelstadt has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past two games.

They said it

"If you're going to win on the road -- and this is a big road trip for us --we're going to have to stay out of the [penalty] box and we're going to have to get contributions from everybody. You can't beat yourself. All those things are important on the road." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer
"They're going to bring their best game and they're way better than they are in the standings right now. There's not even a question that that team is going to drift back up and has amazing personnel. I think it's a good back-to-back kind of test." -- Sabres coach Ralph Krueger on facing San Jose

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Patrick Marleau
Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Noah Gregor
Barclay Goodrow -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen -- Dylan Gambrell -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Erik Karlsson
Mario Ferraro -- Tim Heed
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Lukas Radil, Jonny Brodzinski, Trevor Carrick
Injured: Jake Middleton (left shoulder), Dalton Prout (upper body), Radim Simek (knee)

Sabres projected lineup

Victor Olofsson -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner -- Marcus Johansson -- Vladimir Sobotka
Jimmy Vesey -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Conor Sheary
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Okposo
Rasmus Dahlin -- Colin Miller
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella -- Henri Jokiharju
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: John Gilmour, Evan Rodrigues
Injured: Brandon Montour (hand), Zach Bogosian (hip)

Status report

Montour is "progressing positively" but isn't expected to join the team for practice this week, Krueger said. … The Sharks recalled Brodzinski, a center, and Carrick, a defenseman, from San Jose of the American Hockey League on Monday, but neither is expected to play.

Stat pack

The Sharks have not allowed a power-play goal in four consecutive games (14-for-14). … Okposo has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 15 games against San Jose. … Ristolainen needs three points for 200 in the NHL.