Devils at Sabres
THE STORY: The Buffalo Sabres were livid that Boston Bruins tough guy Milan Lucic wasn't additionally disciplined for his open-ice check on Ryan Miller. Perhaps the angriest Sabre was the former Vezina Trophy winner himself, who did his best to temper his words in regard to NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan's decision. "I’m not going to be happy about it, but I’m not going to speak out against it,” Miller said. “We’re going to move forward and we’re going to play some hockey. And hopefully, I’m playing hockey sooner than later." With Miller sidelined indefinitely with a concussion, the Sabres will have no choice but to lean on Jhonas Enroth. The 23-year-old Swede has been virtually flawless this campaign, winning all six of his starts - the last coming in a 3-2 shootout win over the Northeast Division rival Montreal Canadiens on Monday. Enroth will be in net on Wednesday when the Sabres vie for their sixth win in seven outings against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils suffered their second loss in six games after dropping a 4-3 decision to the Bruins on Tuesday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Versus, TSN2
ABOUT THE DEVILS (8-7-1): Nick Palmieri snapped a seven-game goalless drought by scoring twice and David Clarkson gave life to New Jersey's impotent power play by scoring with the man advantage midway through the first period. The Devils entered the game having failed to score on their previous 19 power plays. New Jersey has killed off 18 straight shorthanded situations. Patrik Elias saw his NHL-leading seven-game point streak come to an end, but he has collected 31 points in 47 career games versus Buffalo.
ABOUT THE SABRES (11-6-0): Buffalo took considerable heat for its lack of response immediately after Lucic lowered the boom on Miller. "You could go to each one of our players and they would tell you that they wished they had dealt with it differently, and they will deal with it differently in the future," Sabres general manager Darcy Regier said. Derek Roy has rebounded after being held off the scoresheet for six games by collecting five goals and five assists in his last six contests.
OVERTIME:
1. Former Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career on Monday. Coach Lindy Ruff hasn't said whether Wednesday's game will include Myers, who has been saddled with a minus-6 rating in his last four contests.
2. Ilya Kovalchuk (groin, leg) is inching closer to a return after missing five straight games. He took part in Tuesday's morning skate and did his best to convince coach Peter DeBoer in his bid to return to the ice. Although the Russian wasn't successful in his argument on Tuesday, he'll be a game-time decision for Wednesday's contest.