• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Sabres try to put lengthy road losing streak behind them in Winnipeg

Jan 19, 2012 - 3:52 PM (Sports Network) - The Buffalo Sabres continue to struggle on the road. Perhaps their first trip to the city of Winnipeg in 16 years can serve as the shakeup they need.

The Sabres hope to win for the first time in 11 outings on the road this evening as they wrap up a set of games on back-to-back nights with a meeting against the Jets.

Playing the third of a season-long seven-game road trip on Wednesday night, the Sabres were dealt a 6-2 loss in Chicago. It marked Buffalo's club-record 10th straight loss in regulation on the road, dropping them to 8-13-0 as the guest this season.

Jason Pominville scored twice, netting the game's first goal before notching a game-tying tally in the second period that made it 2-2. The Blackhawks, though, potted the next four goals.

"It just seemed like they were playing better and with confidence once they got that lead," said Pominville. "For us, it was the other way, we fell behind and it took the life out of us."

Jhonas Enroth allowed all six goals on 35 shots for the Sabres, who have lost three in a row and 12 of their last 15 games overall. They haven't won on the road since Dec. 3 at Nashville.

The Sabres and Jets split a pair of encounters in Buffalo this year, with both games getting decided in overtime, and the Sabres make their first trip to Winnipeg since Jan. 10, 1996 after the Jets relocated from Atlanta. Buffalo is 6-1-2 in its past nine versus the Jets franchise.

Winnipeg returns to the ice after its own set of games on consecutive nights. The Jets got a 25-save shutout from Chris Mason on Monday in Ottawa, but the netminder struggled the following night in New Jersey. Mason was touched for four goals on 15 shots before getting pulled in the second period of an eventual 5-1 setback to the Devils.

Ondrej Pavelec yielded one goal on five shots in relief and Tobias Enstrom prevented the shutout with a third-period goal for the Jets, who have lost six of their last eight and sit five points back of the Panthers and Capitals for the top spot in the Southeast Division.

"I didn't like the game," said Winnipeg coach Claude Noel. "And I'm not faulting any one player. I don't think any of us did very well. Coming off a game where we did very well, we didn't play well enough to win."

Defenseman Zach Bogosian missed his fourth game in a row due to a lower-body injury, while Blake Wheeler sat out his second straight due to an upper-body issue. Both are questionable for tonight, while blueliner Dustin Byfuglien will miss his 12th in a row because of a knee ailment.