Avalanche at Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres have gone 10 games in a row without posting consecutive victories, but they have a chance to end that drought when they host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Colorado owns the league's worst record but has enjoyed success in Buffalo with a 6-1-1 record in its last eight visits.
The Sabres rebounded from a lackluster 4-2 home loss to Vancouver on Sunday by scoring twice in the third period in a 3-2 victory at Ottawa on Tuesday. "This was a gutty effort," said Buffalo defenseman Josh Gorges, who already was looking ahead. "It's over now and we have to have the same kind of effort next game." The only drama surrounding the Avalanche is whether general manager Joe Sakic will make a flurry of moves by the March 1 trade deadline. Colorado has lost four in a row and 23 of its last 27 games (4-22-1) as it continues its five-game road trip.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (15-37-2): With trade rumors swirling around the team, there was a buzz when Matt Duchene did not practice Wednesday, but Colorado termed it a “maintenance” day and said the forward will play Thursday. Duchene, along with captain Gabriel Landeskog, are among the most prominent names mentioned on the trading block. "That’s probably a compliment to those guys," Sakic said. "Because they’re really good players and you’re not going to talk about players who aren’t really good.”
ABOUT THE SABRES (24-23-10): Rookie Justin Bailey delivered the first game-winning goal of his brief career and second overall against the Senators. It capped a strong overall performance by Bailey, who tied for the team high with four shots on goal and acknowleded he never stopped skating hard. "In callups before, there were nights I did that and nights I wasn't doing it," Bailey said. "That's not good enough to stay up here. This time, I've been doing the most to have my feet going."
OVERTIME
1. Sabres C Ryan O'Reilly, who spent his first six seasons with Colorado, has three goals in his last seven games.
2. Avalanche G Calvin Pickard, who has yielded 11 goals during a three-start skid, will be in net.
3. Buffalo has seven wins when trailing after two periods, tying Pittsburgh and Montreal for the league lead.