Pluses, minuses for Penguins-Sabres; Blackhawks-Ducks

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his pluses and minuses for big games each week throughout the season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins (39-16-9) visit the Buffalo Sabres (22-33-8) at KeyBank Center on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, NHL LIVE).
Then the Chicago Blackhawks (22-32-9) visit the Anaheim Ducks (27-27-11) at Honda Center (10 p.m. ET; TNT, NHL LIVE).
Here's my breakdown of the games.

Penguins

Pluses: Acquiring Rickard Rakell from the Ducks prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday helps Pittsburgh's forward depth. Rakell played 14:08 in a 5-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. I love the way the Penguins have been playing all season. The have one of the best goalies in the NHL this season in Tristan Jarry to go along with world-class players like centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang. The Penguins are 8-2-1 in their past 11 games and are a team to watch down the stretch and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Minuses: My only real concern for them right now is their power play, which ranks 17th in the NHL at 20.3 percent. The have scored one power-play goal in their past five games (1-for-18) and two in their past eight games (2-for-26). Other than that, I like how they've been playing.

Sabres

Pluses:They have won four of five, including two of three on their Western Canada trip last week. Goalie Craig Anderson recently got his 300th NHL win and has played well for them. Young forwards Tage Thompson, 24, Peyton Krebs, 21, and Alex Tuch, 25, could be core pieces for the Sabres as they move on from Jack Eichel, their former captain they traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 5. Coach Don Granato has done a good job making them more competitive this season even though they will miss the playoffs for the 10th straight season.
Minuses: The Sabres continue to have defensive issues and rank are seventh from the bottom of the NHL in goals against per game (3.48). After having not made the playoffs in a decade, it's hard to see signs of progression, but I think they have some pieces and can make some moves this offseason to rebuild the team.

Blackhawks

Pluses: Alex DeBrincat has had a great season. The forward has scored 34 goals and 56 points and has scored at least 32 goals in three of his past four seasons. Forward Patrick Kane is tied for 15th in scoring with 71 points (19 goals, 52 assists). Defenseman Seth Jones has rebounded from a tough start and center Jonathan Toews, who missed all of last season because of chronic immune response syndrome, is healthy and it's big that they have their captain back during this tough season.
Minuses: It has been a disappointing season for the Blackhawks, who made moves this offseason and thought they could be contenders. They fired coach Jeremy Colliton on Nov. 6 after a 1-9-2 start and have trouble stringing together an extended stretch of hockey under new coach Derek King. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and Brandon Hagel, one of their talented young forwards, were each traded on Monday, which was tough to see since each had an impact for them this season.

Ducks

Pluses: The Ducks have a lot of young players and rookies poised to make an impact in the coming years. Troy Terry has scored 30 goals in 60 games this season, after scoring 15 goals in his first 129 games. The 24-year-old is the first Ducks player to score at least that many since Rakell did so in 2017-18. Rookie forward Trevor Zegras, 21, and rookie defenseman Jamie Drysdale, 19, have played important minutes all season. John Gibson has always been a great goalie even if the numbers haven't always been there because of a lack of offensive support.
Minuses: The Ducks have fallen out of the playoff race and traded Rakell, forward Nicolas Deslauriers and defensemen Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm in the past week. They are eight points behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. The season started well but they have lost seven straight (0-5-2), getting outscored 30-14. Anaheim has 10 wins in 34 games since a 17-9-5 start.