Game Preview: Sharks At Sabres
Victories have been hard to come by for the Buffalo Sabres since the start of last season. That hasn't been the case when they've faced the San Jose Sharks in recent years, however.
The Sabres can post back-to-back wins for the first time in 2014-15 with an eighth consecutive victory over the visiting Sharks on Tuesday night.
Buffalo (4-13-2) had a league-low 21 wins last season and has the fewest so far in this one. Two of those victories in 2013-14 and the Sabres' first in regulation this season, though, came against San Jose (10-8-2), which is 0-6-1 in the last seven meetings.
"I think it's important ... to know that we can work hard and compete with any team in the league. That's a good team," forward Cody Hodgson told the NHL's official website after the 2-1 victory at San Jose on Oct. 25.
The Sabres are 15-1-0 all-time against the Sharks at home, and have totaled 19 goals in the four meetings there since San Jose won 5-0 at Buffalo on Dec. 2, 2005.
The Sabres recorded eight goals during an 0-4-1 slide that ended when they scored a season high in Saturday's 6-2 home victory over Toronto. Zemgus Girgensons had two goals and Matt Moulson and Tyler Ennis each had one with two assists for the Sabres, who haven't won two straight since a three-game run Feb. 25-28.
"It was 10 times better than what we've done," said Girgensons, who has four goals and two assists in five games. "We have to keep improving."
Buffalo allowed six goals each time in three straight contests before Michal Neuvirth made 32 saves Saturday, helping his team kill all four penalties after its previous three opponents went 7 for 17.
"It was a huge character win for us," defenseman Tyler Myers said. "It's something we have to try to make a habit of moving forward.
"We've struggled a little bit and (Saturday) was a huge stepping stone."
Neuvirth stopped 29 shots and Hodgson and Nicolas Deslauriers scored third-period goals at San Jose last month.
The Sharks improved to 3-3-0 on a seven-game trip with Sunday's 2-0 victory over Carolina.
"We've been on the road for a long, long time but we're weathering the storm and hopefully when it's done we can go home and play well at home," said center Joe Thornton, who has four goals and three assists on the trip.
Tomas Hertl scored his fourth, Thornton added an empty netter and Troy Grosenick made 45 saves to become the 22nd goaltender to record a shutout in his first start.
"It doesn't matter how long you've been in the league, you get excited to see young players come in and do well," Thornton said. "You get excited yourself. It was nice to get the win."
The Sharks are one of the top teams in the league on the power play at 22.6 percent, but they've gone 0 for 9 while splitting the last four games. They are 1 for 25 in the past eight against Buffalo.
Thornton has no goals and two assists during the seven-game slide in the series.
Including his time with Vancouver, Hodgson has five goals and two assists in his last six against San Jose.
