(WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres will try to break their four-game losing streak on Wednesday in Anaheim against the Ducks.
You might think the Sabres are catching a break playing the NHL’s third-worst team on Wednesday, and the fifth-worst San Jose Sharks on Saturday. However, Buffalo has lost this season to the second-worst team - Chicago Blackhawks - and the fourth-worst team - Arizona Coyotes - already.
They have also beaten both of those teams, as well as the Ducks, 6-3, three weeks ago on Jan. 21.
Both Peyton Krebs and Victor Olofsson had two-goal games against Anaheim, while Ilya Lyubushkin added three assists. Trevor Zegras had two goals and three points for the Ducks.
Krebs has only picked up two points since that game, whil.e Olofsson hasn’t scored in his last four.
Eric Comrie has only played twice in the 14 games since he’s been back in the NHL from a knee injury. His last game was Jan. 26 in Winnipeg, where he beat the Jets by stopping 19 out of 21 shots. That was also Buffalo’s last win.
The Sabres have had two four-goal periods, as well as one three-goal period against it in the last two games. Buffalo has allowed 17 goals in the three games.
Overall, Comrie is 5-8-0 this season with a 3.54 goals-against average and an .884 save percentage.
Buffalo has dropped to third in the NHL in goals, averaging 3.63 goals per-game. That’s thanks to having three goals or fewer in six of the last seven games. They scored two or less in each of the last four games.
The penalty kill has been abysmal in the last five games, killing only 9-of-15 shorthanded situations. That’s a league-worst 60%.
Overall this year, the penalty kill is 30th in the NHL.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams thought claiming Tyson Jost off waivers and getting Lyubushkin, Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju back from injury would help the unit, but it hasn’t.
The game on Monday in Los Angeles saw things 0-0 midway through the game. The Kings scored four goals before the second period ended.
I understand the Kings were just trying to get the game into the garage in the third period, but Buffalo got to its game, which got them plenty of offensive zone time and plenty of scoring chances. That resulted in goals by Krebs and Dylan Cozens. It's something head coach Don Granato can help them carry into Wednesday.
The Ducks have lost their last two, and three of their last four games played. In those losses, they gave up 13 goals.
John Gibson played both of those games in goal for Anaheim. This season, he is 10-22-5 overall with a 4.05 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage.
Zegras leads the Ducks in scoring with 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points in 54 games.
A few people have asked if I’d rather have Zegras or Cozens in the 2019 NHL Draft. I’ll let you decide: Cozens has 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points in 51 games. Cozens was the seventh overall pick of that draft, while Zegras was taken by the Ducks two picks later.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 9 p.m. EST.
