• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Sabres aim to deal Ducks first home loss

Nov 8, 2013 - 4:20 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - When Buffalo and Anaheim clashed last weekend, the Ducks left town with a victory that left the Sabres winless at home on the season.

Now the Sabres are tasked with trying to hand the Ducks their first home defeat of the campaign as the clubs get together on Friday night for a rematch.

Buffalo played host to Anaheim last Saturday prior to the start of a three- game road trip and was bested 6-3, falling to 0-8-1 in western New York this season.

The Sabres managed to rebound with a big win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, just their third triumph of the season, but fell right back into the loss column last night with a 2-0 defeat at Los Angeles.

Jhonas Enroth made 26 saves and both goals he allowed came on Kings' power plays. He also got zero support as Buffalo was shut out for the second time in four games and for the fourth time this season.

"We played well in the first period, had some good chances to get up," Sabres coach Ron Rolston said. "We had some good looks in front of their goal but we didn't finish on them and they ended up finishing on us."

Buffalo ranks 29th out of 30 teams this season with an average of just 1.61 goals per game. It has scored more than two goals in a game just five times, one of those coming in the 6-3 loss to Anaheim.

The Sabres had a three-game series winning streak over the Ducks snapped despite goals from Cody Hodgson, Henrik Tallinder and Tyler Myers. Enroth gave up all six goals on 29 shots.

Ryan Miller is likely to start for the Sabres tonight and is 3-2-0 with a 1.66 goals against average in his career versus the Ducks.

Buffalo has won seven of its last 10 in Anaheim, but the Ducks are off to their best home start in team history at 6-0-0. They won their third straight game overall and improved to 6-0-1 in the last seven with a 5-2 win over Phoenix on Wednesday.

Rookie defenseman Hampus Lindholm scored his first career goal and added an assist in the victory, while fellow blueliner Cam Fowler added his first goal of the season.

"We were definitely treating this game with tons of importance," Fowler said. "We knew the type of roll Phoenix was on coming in here, and it seems like nobody seems to be losing in our division right now. We understood how important these two points were, and luckily we were able to come out and put a good effort out there."

Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Andrew Cogliano scored and Jonas Hiller made 24 saves.

The Ducks have outscored their opponents 26-10 at home this season and are on their longest winning streak as the hosting club since a club-record 13-game streak from Jan. 26-March 20 of last season.

Hiller made 14 saves in last weekend's win over the Sabres, improving to 3-2-0 with a 3.02 GAA versus them. Perry and Emerson Etem both scored two goals and Getzlaf added a goal and two helpers.