Sabres at Ducks | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

Fresh off a 2-0 shutout victory in San Jose, the Buffalo Sabres head to Southern California on Thursday for a 10:00 p.m. EDT showdown against the Anaheim Ducks. 

Halfway through their four-game road trip, the Sabres have earned three of a possible four points. None were harder earned than the two against the Sharks on Tuesday, as Colten Ellis pitched a 24-save clean sheet while the group in front of him blocked a season-high 20 shots. 

“Put it in the excellent category,” coach Lindy Ruff said of Ellis. “… He’s a competitive, competitive kid, and he’s given us some good hockey games. Today he gave us an excellent game.” 

• **Tuesday’s Postgame Report:** **Through calm and chaos, Ellis delivers shutout in San Jose**

The game marked many firsts for the Sabres – the first shutout of the season, for one, but also much more: 

• Buffalo took a lead into the third period for the first time all season. 

• The Sabres achieved season-highs in shots on goal (40), blocked shots (20), scoring chances for (41) and high-danger chances for (18). 

• Buffalo allowed fewer than two goals for the first time (and allowed fewer than three for just the second time). 

• The Sabres have now gone two games without allowing a power-play goal against, which is the first time that’s happened through 12 games. 

It wasn’t a perfect game by the Sabres – San Jose still managed to generate 11 high-danger chances of their own. But considering what Buffalo has struggled with so far this year – playing with the lead, second periods, D-zone poise – the goose egg was a welcome result. 

Enter Anaheim: The Ducks are coming off a particularly painstaking performance at home on Tuesday, where they led 5-2 with 7:06 remaining in the game before blowing the lead and losing in overtime. 

It’ll be a homecoming, too, for former Duck Olen Zellweger – the Sabres D-man will face off against his former team with whom he spent three seasons before being traded to Buffalo back in June. 

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of another late-night puck drop.

How to watch 

Streaming (nationally): ESPN+ / Hulu

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App 

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Lineup notes 

The Sabres didn’t hold practice on Wednesday, so we won’t find out about any potential lineup notes or changes until morning skate and warmups in Anaheim later today. 

Ruff shook up his lines ahead of Tuesday’s game in San Jose, notably bumping Zach Benson up to the top line with Tage Thompson and Konsta Helenius. Helenius looked stronger with his new linemates, ultimately setting up Zellweger for his second-period goal. 

The most statistically dominant line from Ruff’s tweaks, though, was the third line of Jason Zucker, Josh Norris and Ryan McLeod – the trio controlled 78.63 percent of the expected goals while on the ice and generated 13 scoring chances (four high danger) while yielding just four against (two high danger), according to Natural Stat Trick.

Check back later for more lineup information, including who’ll start in net for the Sabres.

Storylines 

1. Zellweger’s return

After being dealt from Anaheim to Buffalo ahead of draft this past June, Zellweger will face his former team for the first time tonight. 

“Yeah, I’m excited,” Zellweger said postgame in San Jose. “I’m looking forward to that. Just another game, but (it’s) definitely gonna be cool to go back there and play.” 

The Sabres are surely happy with their decision to trade for – and extend – the blueliner. Zellweger has been an almost seamless fit in Buffalo, his three goals ranking him third on the team in scoring, and his presence beside Owen Power has been valuable in all three zones.  

“I think his game is in a good place,” Ruff said of Zellweger. “I think he feels comfortable, and his defending is good, so it was great to see him play that way.” 

2. Beck all over the board

One player who’s stood out on the road trip – and hasn’t quite gotten rewarded on the box score for it – is Beck Malenstyn, the Sabres’ team-leader in hits (47) by a mile (the next closest player is Peyton Krebs with 20). 

Malenstyn skated a season-high 15:13 on Saturday in Washington D.C., and played another 13:19 on Tuesday. Amid all the recent line changes, he’s maintained a steady presence on Buffalo’s fourth line. 

Against the Sharks, Malenstyn gave a little bit of everything: four shots on goal, three blocks and three takeaways, all single-game season highs.  

3. Scouting the Ducks

Anaheim – led by its high-scoring young core in Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke – is looking to avenge Tuesday’s blunder. 

The 5-6-1 Ducks have lost three of four, allowing 17 goals over that stretch. Over their 12 games, they have allowed three or more goals 11 times. Anaheim’s 3.58 goals against per game is one of the highest figures in the NHL, and the 3.08 they score per game hasn’t been able to compensate for it. 

Carlsson leads the way for the Ducks in points (15), while Sennecke’s seven goals pace the youthful Anaheim squad. Defenseman Jackson LaCombe has 12 points, and his 11 assists are tied for sixth amongst NHL defensemen.  

Lukas Dostal started Tuesday’s overtime loss for Anaheim and sports a .872 save percentage through nine games played. It’s not yet confirmed whether it’ll be him or his counterpart, Ville Husso, between the pipes against Buffalo.