Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR) - The Buffalo Sabres went 3-0-1 on their recent road trip to Washington and then out on their California swing. Overall this season, the Sabres are 4-1-3 away from home ice.
It's a different story in Buffalo, as the Sabres are 3-3-0 overall, and 1-3-0 in their last four home contests.
Luckily for them, seven of the last eight games have been on the road, and Buffalo went 4-0-3.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff says it's been a point of discussion with the team.
"It was yesterday's conversation, about playing better at home, getting off to better starts at home and playing better at home. Part of that is playing a simpler game," said Ruff following Tuesday's morning skate.
"One of the big issues is you get down a couple, it creates a little bit of a comfort level for a road team, saying they don't have to have any risk in their game at all, and it makes it tougher on you to win games."
The Sabres are 7-4-3 so far this season, good for a points percentage of .607. The puts them in the No. 1 Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference. Third place in the Atlantic Division belongs to the Montreal Canadiens at .700.
In the last two games, the Sabres are 4-for-6 on the power play. Their entries have been excellent, led by Tage Thompson.
Thompson is up to 10 goals this year, which is sixth overall in the NHL. He has five goals and two assists for seven points in two games, and has eight points in three games. He's the Sabres' leading scorer with 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points in 14 games.
Zach Benson has points in four-straight games, scoring two goals and five assists for seven points.
Jack Quinn has six goals and four assists for 10 points in his last seven games.
Colten Ellis will be in goal for the Sabres on Wednesday, as he won two games played out in California. Overall this season, he's 3-1-0 with a 3.11 goals-against average and an .880 save percentage.
Ruff may soon be going back to an alternating goalie system like he did last year.
On the injury front, Ruff says defenseman Conor Timmins and forward Jiri Kulich are able to play Wednesday, though it's not looking like they will be in the lineup. The team has won three-straight games, and Ruff likely doesn't want to change things.
The Ottawa Senators were also out West recently, but their trip didn't go as well. The Sens lost in Vegas, lost in overtime in Los Angeles, won in San Jose and lost in Anaheim.
Former Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark was injured and hasn't played since Oct. 21 against the Florida Panthers. He left that game after 43:35 of work, stopping 17-of-18 shots. Ullmark will not return on Wednesday, which means Sam Ersson gets the call for Ottawa against the Sabres. He's 1-3-1 this season with a 3.78 goals-against average and an .866 save percentage.
Ottawa is ninth in the Eastern Conference with a points percentage of .594.
These are two teams that aren't good on special teams, although because of the last two games, the Sabres' power play has climbed up to 25th in the NHL. Ottawa is 31st overall with the man advantage.
When it comes to penalty killing, the Sabres are 28th and the Senators are 23rd.
Join Zach Jones and Derek Kramer for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6:30 p.m. when you'll hear from Ruff, Benson and Rasmus Dahlin.
