Ducks at Sabres preview
Anaheim 2-0-2 on five-game road trip; Buffalo has point in three of past four
by Heather Engel / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
DUCKS (22-26-7) at SABRES (24-23-8)
3 p.m. ET; TVAS, MSG-B, PRIME, NHL.TV
The Game
The Anaheim Ducks will conclude a five-game road trip when they visit the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Sunday.
Anaheim is 2-0-2 on the road trip and 5-2-2 in its past nine games
Buffalo is coming off a 3-2 win at the New York Rangers on Friday and is 2-1-1 in its past four games after losing its previous three.
Players to watch
Ducks forward Rickard Rakell has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games.
Sabres center Jack Eichel has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games and nine points (three goals, six assists) in nine games against Anaheim.
They said it
"I think we learned from our mistakes and that third period (against Toronto) is what we need to base our game off of. It's a template for us to use for a full 60 minutes. Our puck management was simple, and it led to turnovers on their part. It's the type of play we need to keep on showing." -- Ducks forward Max Jones
"We've seen him in and out of different opportunities this season, but to be able to play with Jack [Eichel] and Sam [Reinhart] the way he is and the way he's supplementing that line … when you play with them, you have to understand you're going to go up against top lines in the League and you're going to play 20 minutes. It's a grind in both directions and I think Jimmy's really taken on that side of the responsibility with them, too, which we really like. His complete game is going to a new level." -- Sabres coach Ralph Krueger on Jimmy Vesey
Ducks projected lineup
Rickard Rakell -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Jakob Silfverberg
Max Jones -- Sam Steel -- Ondrej Kase
Nick Ritchie -- Adam Henrique -- Troy Terry
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Derek Grant -- Carter Rowney
Hampus Lindholm -- Michael Del Zotto
Cam Fowler -- Josh Manson
Jacob Larsson -- Brendan Guhle
Ryan Miller
John Gibson
Scratched: Devin Shore, Josh Mahura, Korbinian Holzer
Injured: Erik Gudbranson (upper body)
Sabres projected lineup
Jimmy Vesey -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner -- Evan Rodrigues -- Conor Sheary
Zemgus Girgensons -- Curtis Lazar -- Michael Frolik
Johan Larsson -- Scott Wilson
Brandon Montour -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin -- Colin Miller
Jake McCabe -- Henri Jokiharju
Jonas Johansson
Scratched: Carter Hutton, Zach Bogosian
Injured: Marcus Johansson (illness), Kyle Okposo (upper body), Linus Ullmark (lower body), Victor Olofsson (lower body), Tage Thompson (upper body), Vladimir Sobotka (lower body)
Status report
Kase will play after leaving a 5-4 overtime loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday with an upper-body injury. ... Defensemen Guhle and Mahura were recalled from San Diego of the American Hockey League. ... Gudbranson, a defenseman, was sent back to Anaheim. ... Johansson is unavailable, so the Sabres will play 11 forwards and seven defensemen with Pilut recalled from Rochester of the AHL. Hutton is not available because of family circumstances. Hammond was recalled from Rochester. ... Olofsson practiced with the Sabres on Saturday but is still at least a week away from returning.
Stat pack
Reinhart has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in his past five games against Anaheim. … Skinner hasn't scored since Dec. 2 (17 games). … The Ducks are 3-for-29 (10.3 percent) on the power play in their past 13 games.