Penguins at Sabres
The Pittsburgh Penguins look to continue their dominance in the series when they visit the improving Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon. The Penguins, who dropped a 4-2 decision at home to Tampa Bay on Saturday to remain one point ahead of New Jersey for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, own a seven-game winning streak against Buffalo that includes a one-goal victory on Oct. 29 despite allowing 53 shots.
Pittsburgh expects to be without second-leading scorer Evgeni Malkin (lower body) for the ninth straight game, and his absence is perhaps shown the most on the power play, where the Penguins are 1-for-19 over an eight-game span. Marc-Andre Fleury missed Saturday's game with an illness and is questionable to attempt to improve on an 18-5-2 lifetime record against the Sabres. Buffalo is riding a four-game point streak (3-0-1) as Robin Lehner is rounding into form after an early-season injury, allowing just two goals in his last three games. “I’ve been working hard,” Lehner told reporters. “There’s been some ups and downs. I’m just going to keep working. I feel pretty good right now.”
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC, Sportsnet
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (29-20-8): Captain Sidney Crosby leads the team with 25 goals and 55 points but has cooled off a bit, being kept off to scoresheet in four of his last five contests. The Penguins received goals from rookie forwards Scott Wilson and Tom Kuhnhackl on Saturday, and defenseman Kris Letang (team-best 34 assists) continues to produce, ranking third on the team with 43 points. Blue-liner Ben Lovejoy suffered an upper-body injury Saturday and will not play against Buffalo.
ABOUT THE SABRES (24-28-7): Ryan O’Reilly has not scored a goal in 18 games but still leads the team with 49 points and has notched nine assists in his last nine contests. Rookie Jack Eichel has recorded a goal and four assists during his four-game point streak and fellow first-round pick Sam Reinhart has scored twice in three contests to lead the team with 18. Defenseman Cody Franson suffered an undisclosed injury in Friday’s 4-0 win over Columbus and is expected to be replaced on the blue line Sunday by Mike Weber.
OVERTIME
1. The Sabres have had similar problems on the power play, going 1-for-18 over their last five games, but are 14-for-14 on the penalty kill in their last three contests.
2. Pittsburgh RW Patric Hornqvist is one point away from reaching 300 for his career.
3. Buffalo LW Evander Kane has scored three goals in three games and five over his last seven.