Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR) - The Philadelphia Flyers come calling Wednesday night, and it's the Buffalo Sabres' only home game in 22 days.
Buffalo has already played three of those contests, losing twice in Montreal to the Canadiens - once in a shootout and once in overtime - and also winning in overtime in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.
After Wednesday's home game, the Sabres then go on the road for four contests - in Washington against the Capitals, and then a three-game California road trip against the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.
Another strange quirk with the Sabres is in 5-of-9 games, they've trailed by two goals and came back to get points, going 3-0-2. Four times they were behind by two goals in the third period.
All this has the Sabres at 4-3-2 and five points behind the first place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division.
The Sabres have played four-consecutive games against teams in the division, and have taken 6-of-8 points.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff has abandoned the alternating goalie system with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen playing in all four games. Ruff feels Luukkonen has earned the net for Buffalo.
"I look at every game, like what type of chances are we giving up. We've given up some big chances, where he's made big saves in the last few games," said Ruff following Wednesday's morning skate. "You always look at a goal and think, 'Boy, the goalie could've had it,' and then you close your eyes to those big saves he made - the breakaway save, the 2-on-1 save that the guys were in alone. Sometimes you don't spend enough time talking about that. You'll spend time talking about, 'Oh boy, I don't know. I don't like that goal.'
"I know as a group, we've got better defending in us, and I think it's affected our goaltending group."
Luukkonen comes into this game 3-2-2 this season with a 3.59 goals-against average and an .860 save percentage.
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski leads the NHL in ice-time, playing 29:06 per-game. Minnesota Wild blue liner Quinn Hughes is second in the league at 27:03 of average ice-time.
Sabres defenseman Owen Power is third in the league this season at 26:45.
In the three games that captain Rasmus Dahlin missed due to an upper-body injury, Power played 28:22, 28:01 and 27:39. Power says there are things he does to take care of himself that allows him to play the big minutes that he loves so much.
"Definitely the rest is a big thing," he said after Tuesday's practice. "I think sleep is huge, taking care of yourself on days that you're not playing. Rest is a big thing, and preparing yourself to go out and do it again."
Power just keeps getting better-and-better, and he loves all these minutes he's getting.
"It's fun to play a lot," he said. "You know you're going out there right again the next shift, so it's fun. But it's going to be nice to have [Dahlin] back."
Dahlin is ready to go and will play on Wednesday, as will winger Jason Zucker.
Zucker had surgery in August, and should definitely be a shot in the arm for the league's worst power play.
Buffalo is 3-1-0 in their last four games against the Flyers.
Jack Quinn has three goals and four assists for seven points in his last four games. He and Tage Thompson lead the team in scoring with nine points in nine games.
Quinn likes playing Philadelphia, as he has seven goals and 11 points against them in 10 games.
Zach Benson doesn't have a goal this season, but he has assists in four-straight games.
Philadelphia has won two-straight contests after starting the season 0-6-3.
Dan Vladar will get the call in net for the Flyers on Wednesday. He's 1-3-1 this season with a 3.58 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage.
In 11 games this year, forwards Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras lead the Flyers in scoring with seven points.
Trevor Konecny has 28 points in 31 career games against Buffalo.
Noah Cates has 14 points in 14 career games against the Sabres.
Join Zach Jones and Derek Kramer for pregame coverage of this radio only game at 6:30 p.m., when you'll hear from Ruff and Power.
