Sabres at Oilers
Save for a brief stretch in mid-December, the 2017-18 campaign has been a disappointing one for the Edmonton Oilers. The club attempts to match its season-high four-game winning streak from last month when it continues its five-game homestand Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Edmonton enters the contest against Buffalo with a winning streak that reached three games with Saturday's 5-2 triumph over Vancouver in the opener of its string at home. Patrick Maroon scored a pair of goals in the win by the Oilers, who are 12 points out of a playoff spot after ending their postseason drought in 2016-17. Buffalo lost seven of its first eight games this month before beginning its three-game trek through Western Canada on Monday with a 2-1 overtime victory in Calgary. Jack Eichel is riding a six-game point streak during which he has collected six assists and four goals, including the winner against the Flames 1:30 into the extra session.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, MSG (Buffalo), Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE SABRES (12-26-9): Scott Wilson also scored Monday, giving him two goals and an assist in 15 games since being acquired from Detroit on Dec. 4 for a 2019 fifth-round draft pick. The 25-year-old center registered eight tallies and 18 assists in 78 contests last season with Pittsburgh, which dealt him to the Red Wings on Oct. 21 for Riley Sheahan. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu returned to the lineup in Calgary after missing three games because of illness but exited with a possible concussion after engaging in a fight during his second shift of the contest.
ABOUT THE OILERS (21-23-3): Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leads the team with 16 goals and is four points shy of 300 for his career but missed the win over the Canucks and will be sidelined 5-to-6 weeks with cracked ribs. Jesse Puljujarvi ended his eight-game point drought in a big way Saturday, recording a goal and two assists for the first three-point performance of his career. The tally was the ninth in 30 games this season for the 19-year-old Swedish right wing, who registered just one in 28 contests last campaign.
OVERTIME
1. Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who tops the club with 53 points, has collected a goal and five assists during his four-game point streak.
2. Sabres RW Nicholas Baptiste registered four shots in 10 minutes of ice time Monday in his first contest with the team since a four-game stint in November.
3. Buffalo D Rasmus Ristolainen has landed on the scoresheet in eight of his last 10 games, recording three goals and seven assists in that span.