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Sabres host Senators in first game without Vanek

Feb 11, 2009 - 11:39 AM Ottawa (18-25-8) at Buffalo (28-20-6), 7:30 p.m. EST

BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- Considering their position in the Eastern Conference, carrying on without All-Star Thomas Vanek will be a difficult task for the Buffalo Sabres.

Slated to play their first game since Vanek suffered a fractured jaw, the Sabres look to bounce back from a loss when they host the Ottawa Senators in the second part of a home-and-home series on Wednesday.

Vanek underwent surgery on his fractured jaw on Sunday and is expected to miss at least three weeks. The left wing suffered the injury during Saturday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Prior to the injury, he had missed only one regular-season game in his four-year career, and that came when he was a healthy scratch in Toronto on April 3, 2006. The Austrian leads Buffalo with 32 tallies and 52 points.

Goaltender Ryan Miller has been spectacular of late for the Sabres, who are holding a slim lead on the seventh spot in the East with 62 points. Miller has surrendered two or fewer goals in each of his last four starts.

Ottawa snapped a four-game skid by defeating Buffalo, 3-2, in a shootout on Saturday.

Mike Fisher scored the decisive goal in the fourth round of the bonus format, Nick Foligno and Antoine Vermette tallied in regulation while rookie Brian Elliott made 28 saves for the Senators, who helped coach Cory Clouston notch his first NHL victory.

Ottawa had gone 0-1-1 since Clouston replaced the fired Craig Hartsburg on Monday.