Sabres at Senators
Evander Kane has helped the Buffalo Sabres awake from a recent offensive slumber, but the rugged forward had trouble getting out of bed on Monday after attending the NBA All-Star Game. As a result of missing the morning practice, Kane will sit out Tuesday's tilt with the host Ottawa Senators despite scoring three goals in the last two games and six in the past eight.
"He slept in, called (general manager) Tim (Murray) and myself, broke a team rule," coach Dan Bylsma told the Buffalo News on Monday. "We'll be dealing with it internally but he will not be playing in Ottawa. I'm disappointed." The Senators also have been disappointing of late, having dropped three in a row to fall further behind in the race for an elusive postseason spot. Ottawa announced its intentions for making a playoff push after being involved in a nine-player deal last week to acquire veteran defeneseman Dion Phaneuf, who overcame a rocky debut on Wednesday to record three assists in the last two contests. Mika Zibanejad notched a pair of assists in a 4-2 loss to Columbus on Saturday, but has just one goal in his last 10 games overall and one in 13 career meetings with Buffalo.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, RDS (Buffalo), WPCW (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE SABRES (23-28-6): Rookie Jack Eichel scored a highlight-reel goal in Sunday's 4-1 victory over Colorado and tallied three times in two meetings with Ottawa this season. The second overall pick netted his first career NHL goal in a 3-1 setback to the Senators on Oct. 8 and added two more tallies in Buffalo's 3-2 win in Ottawa on Jan. 26. Ryan O'Reilly has set up a pair of goals in back-to-back contests, driving his assist total to nine in his last seven games and a club-best 32 on the season.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (25-26-6): Captain Erik Karlsson has four assists during the team's losing skid and 11 in seven contests since the All-Star break. Karlsson's last tally came against Buffalo last month and the 25-year-old Swede has recorded 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 28 career meetings with the Sabres. Fellow defenseman Mark Borowiecki did not practice on Monday after hitting his head on the boards during a collision with Brandon Saad in Saturday's game.
OVERTIME
1. Buffalo G Robin Lehner, who owns a 3-1-1 mark in his last five decisions, has stopped 45 of 48 shots in two career outings against the team that selected him in the second round of the 2009 draft.
2. Ottawa has five power-play goals in the last four games after going 1-for-14 in the previous six.
3. Senators RW Bobby Ryan, who scored on Saturday, also tallied against the Sabres on Jan. 26 for his seventh goal in 15 career meetings with the Atlantic Division rival.