Ducks at Sabres
If the Anaheim Ducks are Stanley Cup contenders, they have a funny way of showing it as they begin a four-game road trip through New York and New Jersey against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Anaheim began November with a four-game winning streak that halted a 1-7-2 start, but is spinning its wheels at 6-6-3 since after a stunning 5-1 loss to Carolina at home on Friday - the only game in an 10-day stretch for the last-place Ducks.
"We're in a position where we can't afford to all of a sudden not be ready to play and have a lackluster game," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters. "We have to find a way to win five, six, seven in a row like other teams in our division are doing. ..." The Ducks are last in the NHL at 1.9 goals per game as Corey Perry (team-leading 10 goals) is the only player scoring on a consistent basis. Buffalo has lost four of its last six contests - all in regulation - after beginning a three-game homestand with a 2-0 setback to New Jersey on Tuesday. Sabres rookie Jack Eichel, the No. 2 overall pick in last June's draft, hasn't recorded a point in five games.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket, FSN San Diego (Anaheim), MSG Buffalo, Bell TV (Buffalo)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (11-13-5): Rickard Rakell is the next-highest goal scorer with six and benefits from playing on a line with Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, who has one goal and a team-leading 17 assists. An unexpected disappointment is second-line center Ryan Kesler, who has three goals and is a team-worst minus-12 rating. Anaheim plays its first of three games without fourth-line center Nate Thompson, who was suspended for a hit to the head on Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk.
ABOUT THE SABRES (13-16-3): Ryan O'Reilly (team bests of 11 goals and 27 points) was reunited Tuesday with his brother Cal, who was called up from Rochester of the American Hockey League to replace Marcus Foligno (upper-body injury) and played his first NHL game since Feb. 15, 2012. O'Reilly on Tuesday had an eight-game point streak snapped during which he collected four goals and 11 points. Eichel has scored nine goals on a team-high 101 shots and is a minus-7.
OVERTIME
1. The Ducks sent G Anton Khudobin to San Diego of the American Hockey League on Tuesday after he went 3-3-0 with a 2.70 goals-against average and .908 save percentage in eight games with the Ducks.
2. Buffalo boasts the fifth-best power play in the NHL at 22 percent and faces Anaheim's No. 2 penalty-killing unit (87.1 percent).
3. The Ducks have won four straight meetings, but the teams haven't met since a 4-1 game Oct. 22, 2014.