Devils at Sabres
THE STORY: The New Jersey Devils may be fourth in the Atlantic
Division, but they are very much in the thick of things. They will look
to make up ground in an effort to improve their sixth-place spot in the
Eastern Conference when they visit the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. The
Sabres, fighting to stay out of the East basement, beat the Devils 2-1
in a shootout Jan. 24 after dropping the first two meetings.
TV: 7 p.m., MSG Plus (Devils), MSG Buffalo (Sabres)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (31-20-4): New Jersey, which is 5-3-2 in its
last 10 games, is coming off a 3-1 home loss to the Florida Panthers on
Saturday. Steve Bernier scored while Martin Brodeur made 18 saves. It
was the second straight loss for the Devils, who previously fell in a
shootout to the visiting St. Louis Blues. The Devils hold a 16-10-1 road
record. Patrik Elias leads New Jersey with two goals and five points in
the three games against Buffalo.
ABOUT THE SABRES (24-25-6): Buffalo, which is 5-4-1 in its last
10 games, is coming off a 2-1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The
loss ended the Sabres home winning streak at 11 games (6-0-5). Buffalo
is 13-10-6 at home this season. Jason Pominville scored his 20th goal of
the season while Ryan Miller made 26 saves to fall to 16-16-3.
Pominville has three goals and two assists during his four-game point
streak. Jordan Leopold has three points in the three games against New
Jersey.
OVERTIME:
1. The Sabres went on 5-0-1 run and the Devils 5-0-2 after their last meeting.
2. Alexei Ponikarovsky has two goals and six assists in nine games since the Devils acquired him from the Carolina Hurricanes.
3. Petr Sykora and Elias scored the game winning goals for New Jersey in the first two games against the Sabres.