Stars at Sabres
THE STORY: The Buffalo Sabres certainly packed a punch when they blasted the reigning Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins on Wednesday. On Friday, the Sabres are expecting to receive a jolt when offensive star Thomas Vanek returns to the ice against the visiting Dallas Stars. Vanek missed three games with an upper-body injury for the Sabres, who have won four of five after posting just one win in their previous nine contests (1-7-1). For its part, Dallas secured its fourth win in six games with a 4-2 victory over the cellar-dwelling Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSSW+, MSG
ABOUT THE STARS (28-23-2): All-Star Jamie Benn tallied twice and Alex Goligoski and Stephane Robidas notched a goal and an assist apiece on Thursday. Despite the victory, Dallas remains two points shy of the eighth-place Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference standings. G Kari Lehtonen has fared well versus Buffalo dating back to his days with the Eastern Conference's Atlanta Thrashers. The Finn is 6-4-1 in his career against the Sabres.
ABOUT THE SABRES (23-24-6): Vanek shares the team lead in goals with captain Jason Pominville, who tallied twice during Buffalo's 6-0 throttling of Boston. G Ryan Miller continued his stellar play of late by improving to 4-0-1 with a pair of shutouts in his last five starts. The former Vezina Trophy winner has defeated Dallas in all three career meetings - although he hasn't faced them in nearly two years (March 2010).
OVERTIME:
1. Dallas hasn't been able to find consistent success away from the Lone Star State. In fact, the Stars last won back-to-back road games in a stretch which spanned from Oct. 25-Nov. 8.
2. Buffalo's Lindy Ruff watched from the coach's box during Wednesday's game - and he figures to do the same on Friday. Ruff is nursing three broken ribs following a collision in practice with defenseman Jordan Leopold.