(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres had a three-game winning streak as they started their current five-game road trip this past Saturday. However, they’ve since lost two of the first three games on the trip, and will next face the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
The Washington Capitals lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, so Buffalo stays four points behind the Caps in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Detroit Red Wings occupy the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, and are five points ahead of the Sabres.
Detroit hosts the New York Islanders on Thursday, who lead the Sabres by two points.
Despite not playing well in the losses to the Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks, the Sabres were within one goal of getting both games to overtime in the third period. Only having five loser points this season has hurt the Sabres.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will likely be back in goal on Thursday after getting Tuesday off against the Canucks. He’s won four of his last five games, and has picked up points in 5-out-of-6, going 4-1-1.
Luukkonen stopped 30-of-32 shots in the Sabres shootout win over the Oilers on March 9. Luukkonen stopped Connor McDavid on one breakaway, and later stopped him again on a shootout attempt.
The 25-year-old is 23-17-3 this season with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
In their last six games in Edmonton, the Sabres are 4-2-0. Overall, Buffalo has won 5-of-7 against the Oilers.
With his two goals on Tuesday, Rasmus Dahlin has points in 5-out-of-7 games with two goals and four assists for six points.
Owen Power has 10 points in his last 13 games from the blue line.
In his last six games, Tage Thompson has three goals and four assists for seven points.
Edmonton is in second place in the Pacific Division, eight points behind Vancouver and three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings.
The Oilers are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games, and 13-2-2 in their last 17 games on home ice.
In 16 of those 17 games played at home, McDavid has recorded, at least, one point.
McDavid is third in league scoring with 108 points in 64 games. Leon Draisaitl is 10th. McDavid’s 82 assists lead the NHL, while he has eight points in his last four games.
Zach Hyman’s 46 goals are third in the NHL this season. His previous career high was 36 goals set last season.
The Oilers are fourth in league scoring, averaging 3.52 goals per-game.
Stuart Skinner has played the last 9-out-of-12 games, and didn’t play in Edmonton’s last game. That means he's likely getting the call against Buffalo.
The Oilers goalie has given up more than two goals once in his last eight games. He’s 30-13-4 overall this season with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Losi & Gangi
