Sabres at Jets
THE STORY: The Buffalo Sabres are hitting the midway point of their season-high seven-game road trip. They're still looking for their first win as they take on the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Buffalo is 0-3-0 thus far on its trek and has lost a franchise-record 10 straight away from home. The Sabres, whose last road victory came on Dec. 3 at Nashville, had a 23-game winless stretch on the road in 1971-72 during which they went 0-15 with eight ties. Buffalo, which has dropped nine of 11 overall, will be facing a Winnipeg team that also has struggled of late. The Jets have lost six of eight overall and three of five at home.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, MSG (Buffalo), TSN (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE SABRES (19-22-5): Despite recent rumors, Ryan Miller has no interest in leaving Buffalo. "I have not and will not ask for a trade," the goaltender told TSN on Wednesday. "I will fall on the 'Sabre' before that. Please no one ask me again." Miller had the night off as Buffalo suffered a 6-2 defeat in Chicago but is expected to start against the Jets. Defenseman Robyn Regehr missed his second straight contest with an upper body injury. Blue-liner Jordan Leopold has a minus-7 rating over his last two games.
ABOUT THE JETS (21-20-5): Winnipeg is 0-7 in the second of back-to-back games and has been outscored 31-6 in those contests. The Jets, who are in the bottom third of the league in goals scored with 116, have a number of players struggling offensively. Left wing Evander Kane is in the midst of a nine-game goalless drought while Nik Antropov has gone 13 contests without a tally. Bryan Little has not scored in eight straight following a four-game goal-scoring streak. After scoring a career-high nine goals last season, Chris Thorburn has not tallied in 45 games this campaign.
OVERTIME:
1. The Sabres have earned at least one point in each of their last six overall meetings with the Jets franchise (4-0-2) and are 6-1-2 in the last nine matchups but have lost seven of nine road games in the all-time series.
2. Both of the previous two meetings this season went to overtime, with the Sabres winning a high-scoring 6-5 affair at home on Nov. 8 and Winnipeg claiming a defensive-minded 2-1 decision at Buffalo on Jan. 7.