Devils at Sabres
The New Jersey Devils look to put an end to their six-game winless streak (0-3-3) on Sunday, when they visit the Buffalo Sabres. The Devils, who trail the eighth-place New York Islanders by three points, haven't won since superstar Ilya Kovalchuk injured his shoulder. New Jersey suffered its third straight loss in regulation with a 2-1 setback to Toronto on Saturday.
Buffalo dealt with its four-game winless streak (0-2-2) by responding with a pair of strong performances. The Sabres ended Pittsburgh's gaudy 15-game winning streak with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday before skating to a 4-2 triumph over Northeast Division-rival Ottawa three days later. Steve Ott scored in both contests for Buffalo, which sits six points behind the Islanders.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN
ABOUT THE DEVILS (15-14-9): Patrik Elias didn't mince words when asked about his team's troubles. "We're repeating ourselves here for the past few games," Elias said. "You try to stay up, and again the work ethic was there. ... It's tough to win with one or not scoring any goals." David Clarkson scored his team-leading 13th goal with 8:23 remaining in the third period to ended the New Jersey's scoreless drought at 143:36. The Devils have mustered just 10 goals during their winless stretch.
ABOUT THE SABRES (15-17-6): Interim coach Ron Rolston is attempting to light a fire under the struggling Marcus Foligno, who sat out much of the third period on Friday. In addition, Foligno was replaced on a line by rookie Brian Flynn during Saturday's practice. "We can't afford guys that aren't playing the way we have to play," Rolston told the Buffalo News. "He'll bounce back and he'll have a good game (on Sunday), but everyone has to be playing their best hockey right now."
OVERTIME
1. Elias and Clarkson scored shootout goals in New Jersey's 3-2 victory over Buffalo on March 7. The triumph snapped the Devils' previous six-game winless stretch (0-5-1).
2. G Ryan Miller made 28 saves in the Sabres' 4-3 shootout win over the Devils on March 2.
3. Buffalo is 0-for-11 on the power play in its last three games.