Sabres at Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks look to extend their winning streak to six games as they continue their homestand against the offensively challenged Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. Anaheim has yet to lose since falling in Pittsburgh on Oct. 9, winning the final three contests of its season-opening road trip before beginning the stretch of five straight home games with a pair of victories. The Ducks kicked off the string with a 2-1 triumph over Minnesota on Friday and blanked St. Louis 3-0 two nights later.
Frederik Andersen is coming off his first career shutout and ninth consecutive victory dating to last season but could get a breather against Buffalo, which has gone two straight games without a goal. After topping Carolina on the road for their first win of the campaign, the Sabres were blanked at home by Florida's Roberto Luongo on Friday and Boston's Niklas Svedberg the following night. Anaheim hopes to sweep the two-game season series after posting a 5-1 triumph at Buffalo on Oct. 13 behind a two-goal performance by rookie William Karlsson.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, MSG (Buffalo), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE SABRES (1-5-0): Buffalo has scored only seven goals in its six games, with four players accounting for the tallies. Marcus Foligno, Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons each have two goals while Torrey Mitchell netted the other. The Sabres begin their four-game road trip with a scoreless drought of 142 minutes, 6 seconds but look to avoid being blanked three games in a row for the first time in franchise history.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (5-1-0): Sami Vatanen is coming off a performance in which he became the sixth defenseman in club history to score two power-play goals in a game. The 23-year-old Finn joined Fredrik Olausson, Jason Marshall, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger and Lubomir Visnovsky. Andersen (25-5-0) has won 25 of his first 30 career decisions, becoming just the second goaltender in NHL history to accomplish the feat (Boston's Ross Brooks, 25-2-3).
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim outshot Buffalo 44-12 in the first meeting this season.
2. Buffalo (0-for-22), which is one of three teams yet to score a power-play goal, has been shut out in consecutive games for the first time since the start of the 2003-04 campaign.
3. The Ducks have won three straight meetings with the Sabres, outscoring them 17-6 in the process.