Flames at Sabres
The Calgary Flames received a spark one day removed from firing their general manager and assistant GM. On Saturday, the Flames look to keep trending in the right direction against the host Buffalo Sabres, who also axed their general manager and coach last month. Buffalo, however, has not seen much of a change in its fortunes, dropping nine of 12 since Darcy Regier was fired on Nov. 13.
After firing GM Jay Feaster and assistant John Weisbrod, the Flames posted their fourth win in six contests on Thursday as defenseman Chris Butler scored 4:56 into overtime for a 2-1 victory over Carolina. The Sabres split a home-and-home series against Ottawa despite mustering a season-high 41 shots in a 2-1 setback - the team's ninth loss in 11 games (2-8-1). Tyler Ennis registered seven of those attempts and scored his third goal in four contests.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, RSN West (Calgary), MSG (Buffalo)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (12-15-4): Karri Ramo has permitted just six goals in his last four games (3-1-0) to wrest away significant playing time from Reto Berra. Both goaltenders will have a chance to compete as the Flames' five-game road trip spans only eight nights. Jiri Hudler was held off the scoresheet for the first time in December after scoring two goals and setting up three others during his four-game point streak.
ABOUT THE SABRES (7-23-2): A shortage of goals continues to plague Buffalo, which competed on Thursday without top-scoring center Cody Hodgson (eight goals, 10 assists). "Cody Hodgson took a little bit of a banging last game," coach Ted Nolan told the Buffalo News. Nolan noted that Hodgson was still sore as an explanation for the latter's absence from Friday's practice, but he is expected to return against Calgary.
OVERTIME
1. Buffalo G Ryan Miller has faced at least 30 shots in 12 of his last 13 contests. He is 2-2-0 in his career versus Calgary.
2. Flames C Mike Cammalleri, who leads the team with 10 goals, has just one in his last 10 games.
3. Sabres D Alexander Sulzer is expected to miss his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury.