Oilers at Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres vie for their first three-game point streak of the season when they host the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. Buffalo opened its four-game homestand with a 3-2 shootout victory over Detroit on Sunday before falling in the bonus format to Montreal 2-1 three days later. Drew Stafford scored his team's lone goal versus the Canadiens and tallied in both meetings with the Oilers last season.
The Sabres can hang their hat on their recent success against Edmonton, posting a 7-1-0 record while outscoring the Oilers by a 31-14 margin. Edmonton hasn't been playing too well of late, either, as it suffered its fourth straight loss overall and dropped to 0-4-1 on the road this season with a 5-2 setback to Boston on Thursday. "We need to find a way to close games out," said Oilers goaltender Ben Scrivens, who made 27 saves. "We've got to find a way to do it. You can't take a step back. You can't be cautious. We're a much better team when we're going after the other team."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RSN West (Edmonton), MSG (Buffalo)
ABOUT THE OILERS (4-8-1): Viktor Fasth likely will get the nod versus Buffalo and look to improve upon his 21-save performance in Edmonton's 4-1 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday. The 32-year-old Swede has yielded 11 goals on 79 shots while remaining winless in three contests this season (0-2-1, 4.70 goals-against average). Iiro Pakarinen logged 5:50 of ice time in his NHL debut Thursday after being recalled from Oklahoma City of the American Hockey League.
ABOUT THE SABRES (3-9-2): Tyler Ennis notched his 100th career assist in the loss to the Canadiens and enters Friday's tilt against his hometown team with four points (one goal, three assists) in his last four contests. Buffalo certainly could use a jolt from its punchless power play, which has converted just 2-of-46 opportunities this season. "Sometimes when you're pressing, you try to do too much," coach Ted Nolan said. "You try to make those long passes, so one thing we tried to do (in Thursday's practice) is really simplify it and make those short passes."
OVERTIME
1. Buffalo RW Chris Stewart has collected 11 goals and six assists in 21 career meetings with Edmonton.
2. Oilers captain Andrew Ference will sit out the final contest of his three-game suspension on Friday.
3. The Sabres won three straight home games from Feb. 25-28 to record their last three-game point streak.