Ducks at Sabres
The Anaheim Ducks had a third period to remember Saturday night in Detroit, while the Buffalo Sabres would much rather forget their performance over the final 20 minutes of their loss in Chicago. The Ducks look to make it two wins in a row Monday afternoon as they tangle with the Sabres in a Columbus Day showdown in Buffalo. Anaheim rallied for a 3-2 win over the Red Wings on captain Ryan Getzlaf's second goal of the game with just 24 seconds left in the third.
It was a decidedly different story for the Sabres over the weekend, as they held tough with the Blackhawks for two periods before getting victimized for four goals over the final 20 minutes as Chicago cruised in its home opener. "In the third period, their star players turned it up a notch and we didn't," Buffalo head coach Ted Nolan said after the game. Buffalo is off to another dismal start, dropping each of its first two games while being outscored 9-3 in the process.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, FSW2 (Anaheim), MSG-B (Buffalo)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (1-1-0): Anaheim was one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the league last season, and appears to have bolstered its attack with the addition of Ryan Kesler. The former Vancouver Canucks forward has been one of the team's top players through the first two games, racking up a goal and three assists while proving to be a valuable power-play asset and averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game. Kesler is looking to bounce back after recording just 43 points and a minus-15 rating in Vancouver last season.
ABOUT THE SABRES (0-2-0): Just about everything that could go wrong has done just that for the Sabres, who have struggled at all facets of the game in their opening 120 minutes of the season. Among the major concerns is a power-play unit that has not only gone scoreless in five opportunities, but allowed a pivotal short-handed goal in the loss to the Blackhawks. Penalty killing has also struggled, allowing a man-advantage goal in both games while yielding eight opportunities through two games.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim cruised to victory in both meetings last season, outscoring Buffalo 12-5 in games played less than a week apart.
2. Getzlaf has five goals and six assists in 11 career games versus the Sabres.
3. Buffalo finished 29th in power-play success rate (14.1 percent) and 20th in penalty killing (81.4) a season ago.
PREDICTION: Ducks 4, Sabres 1