• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Sabres look to generate sparks against Penguins

Nov 28, 2008 - 11:28 AM Pittsburgh (13-5-3) at Buffalo (10-8-3), 7:30 pm EST

BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- November has not been kind to the Buffalo Sabres. In fact, it has completely negated their hot start.

The struggling Sabres hope to win consecutive games for the first time in almost a month when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

Prior to their 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, the Sabres had dropped seven of eight and were mired in a five-game losing skid in that span.

Buffalo began the season with six wins in its first seven contests, but has failed to maintain that level of excellence. The Sabres ended October trudging through a three-game losing streak and bounced back to win two in a row from November 1-3, but then fell into their current slide.

In their win over Boston, Buffalo's Derek Roy recorded his first two-goal game since March 25 of last season and has seven points in his last five games. Goaltender Ryan Miller had 27 saves and snapped a personal three-game losing streak.

Buffalo's Thomas Vanek is among the NHL leaders with 15 goals, but hasn't scored in the past three games. He has four goals in 13 contests against the Penguins.

The Sabres have just one win in their last seven games against Pittsburgh (1-5-2).

The Penguins have been extremely successful in November, thanks, in large part, to Evgeni Malkin's torrid stretch. The All-Star center has 32 points - nine goals and 23 assists - in his last 17 games and has registered points in 15 of those.

Pittsburgh suffered its first regulation loss in November on Saturday, a 3-1 defeat against the Vancouver Canucks, but bounced back to top the New York Islanders, 5-3, on Wednesday.