Senators at Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres own the worst record in hockey but still have a chance to climb out of the basement in the Atlantic Division as they prepare to play their regular-season home finale against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night. Buffalo sits three points behind the Senators, who are wrapping up their season with three games on the road.
Buffalo's place in the standings attests to its season-long struggles, but the past two games were indicative of the wild inconsistency, following a 7-4 win at NHL-best Nashville with a 5-2 setback in Toronto. "You think you're heading in the right direction and then you take a step back," Sabres forward Jason Pominville said after the team's eighth loss in 11 games (3-7-1). Despite a rare offensive eruption, the Senators dropped a 6-5 decision to Winnipeg on Monday in their home finale, the eighth defeat in the last nine games. Ottawa, which will be without captain Erik Karlsson the rest of the way, has lost five of six in the series and has not beaten Buffalo in regulation in the past 11 matchups.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet360, Sportsnet1, TVAS (Ottawa), MSG-Buffalo
ABOUT THE SENATORS (27-41-11): Karlsson will be allowed to remain home to be with his wife Melinda as the couple deals with the stillborn death of their son. The superstar defenseman, the subject of multiple trade rumors throughout the season, reached into the net after Monday's game to grab the puck, leading to speculation of whether he's played his last game for Ottawa. "It's not something I've thought about going into this game and it's not something I'm going to think about for a while," Karlsson said.
ABOUT THE SABRES (25-42-12): One of the bright spots for Buffalo has been the play of center Sam Reinhart, who followed up a hat trick in Nashville by scoring against Toronto to establish career highs in goals (24) and points (48). "On the power play, he's very deadly in front of the net," Coach Phil Housley said. "He's getting pieces of pucks and he's making plays down low. I think he's been very consistent in his determination to get to the net." Reinhart has amassed 17 goals and 18 assists over his last 35 games.
OVERTIME
1. Sabres C Jack Eichel has four goals and 11 points in eight games versus Ottawa.
2. Ottawa will make a decision on Wednesday morning in regard to F Mark Stone, who has missed the last 12 games.
3. Buffalo recalled Fs Alexander Nylander and Kevin Porter from Rochester of the American Hockey League.