Ducks at Sabres preview

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

Lawrence Pilut

Jonas Johansson

Andrew Hammond

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.