Penguins at Sabres
The Pittsburgh Penguins aim to feed off the momentum of snapping a six-game losing skid on Thursday when they face off against the host Buffalo Sabres. The Penguins located their missing offense in Tuesday's 7-3 romp over Ottawa, with the output finishing one goal shy of matching the total of their previous six contests.
"They've got something to show for their efforts. They've been playing hard," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "I have to believe when you score seven goals it has to give our guys a boost of confidence, and it gives us something to build on." Evgeni Malkin, who notched four assists against the Senators, has accounted for all three goals his team has scored in a pair of losses to Buffalo this season. Jack Eichel matched Malkin's two-goal performance in the Sabres' 5-2 victory on Feb. 22, but Buffalo's captain has been held without a point in a career high-tying five straight games. The Sabres won the first contest after defeating the Penguins before a fruitless road trip marked the third time this season that the team dropped at least four in a row.
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ATT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, MSG-Buffalo
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (38-21-6): Conor Sheary returns to Buffalo for the first time since rejoining Pittsburgh on Feb. 24 in a deal that included Evan Rodrigues heading to the Penguins and Dominik Kahun venturing to the Sabres. "It should be fun," the 27-year-old Sheary said. "I have a lot of really close friends over there that I've met over the last couple years. Obviously a place I know pretty well. But to be on this side of it, I'm excited, and hopefully we can put on a good performance." Sheary tallied twice in the season opener between the teams, a 3-1 win for Buffalo on Oct. 3.
ABOUT THE SABRES (29-29-8): Eichel had recorded at least a point in 20 of 22 contests before his current five-game drought. As one might expect, Eichel's linemates also aren't faring too well of late as promising rookie Victor Olofsson has failed to dent the scoresheet in six consecutive contests while Sam Reinhart is mired in a five-game stretch. Another drought circling the Sabres involves the team's power play, which is 0-for-10 in its last five contests.
OVERTIME
1. Buffalo D Rasmus Ristolainen, who scored his team's lone goal on Tuesday, had two assists in the previous encounter with Pittsburgh.
2. Penguins LW Jason Zucker has recorded 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 11 games since he was acquired in a trade from Minnesota.
3. Sabres LW Jeff Skinner has scored three goals in his last six games, beginning with his tally in the most recent meeting against Pittsburgh.