Preview: Ducks Ready to Fly vs. Sabres on Superhero Night
The first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive the highly anticipated Trevor Zegras action figure giveaway, presented by olive. Kids can 12 and under can also participate in the first intermission Costume Contest in the Puck Drop Patio. For more info on Superhero Night,
click here
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Anaheim will look to get back on track after consecutive losses against Pittsburgh and Vegas have zapped the momentum from a five-game point streak.
"Not good," Ducks coach
Dallas Eakins told NHL.com's Paul Delos Santos after the Vegas setback
. "Vegas got a couple of hardworking, good bounce goals. Then we fell apart, trying to do somebody else's job, everybody else's job in our zone."
The Ducks pointed to continued struggles on the breakout as a particular point of emphasis, with Kevin Shattenkirk noting the team can't prioritize spending more time on offense until they resolve issues getting the puck out of their own zone.
"I think it's hard to say we need to generate more offense because we're spending the majority of our time in the d-zone," Shattenkirk said. "We need to win more battles in the d-zone, get the puck stopped and get more turnovers down there. That's what is killing us right now. We're getting hemmed in and don't have the energy to establish a forecheck and get on the right side of the puck."
"It's all about execution. This time of year, especially once the All-Star break is over, you start to see the better teams pull away and fine tune their game. They fine tune the details and it gets that much harder to make passes. There are sticks in the lane and guys are on you faster. That's the learning experience here. We need to ramp up our game as well and execute every single pass because if you miss one little play, it sets you up for disaster."
Despite the back-to-back setbacks, the Ducks still own a 6-4-1 mark in their last 11 games, with only two of those contests on home ice. Anaheim's 17 home games still to be played ranks second-most in the NHL.
After allowing a combined 13 goals in those losses to Vegas and Pittsburgh, the Ducks will need to tighten up defensively tonight though against one of the NHL's most explosive attacks. The Sabres rank third among NHL clubs in goals per game (3.63) and fifth on the power play (25.3%).
Top-line center Tage Thompson is tied for third among NHL leaders in goals (35), fourth in power-play goals (15) and eighth in points (69) and power-play points (26). Meanwhile, former No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin ranks in the top five among NHL defensemen in points (56, tied-second), goals (14, third), assists (42, fourth) and even-strength points (31, fourth).
"You've got to play tight against them," Eakins said. "They're a team who is more than willing to go up and down the ice and trade chances with you, knowing they probably have the upper hand if they can get into that type of game. They have some size, some speed and a lot of youth...They've got a really solid squad there."
Anaheim saw that quick strike ability up close last month in the first meeting between the clubs. The Ducks erased an early three-goal deficit that afternoon, but not complete the comeback with a strong third period, as the Sabres rallied for three more goals to
earn a 6-3 victory on home ice
.
"We turned over a lot of pucks in the neutral zone and they killed us on a lot of transition goals," Shattenkirk said. "In the defensive zone, it's time and space but it's also about forcing dumps and not letting them have possession coming into the zone. That allows us to win those battles and get pucks out. I think their d-zone is where we can take advantage. We set up a good cycle game and got a lot of good chances against them last game, so we have to make sure we get the puck down there as much as possible."
The Sabres will hit the midway point of a three-game California road trip tonight, looking to bounce back from a 5-2 loss to the Kings Monday night in which LA raced out to a four-goal edge in the first period.
The loss pushed Buffalo's winless streak to four games.
"Obviously, it's not the best way to start coming off the break, but there's still a lot of games left," winger
Alex Tuch told Chris Ryndak of Sabres.com
. "We have to take it day by day, a game at a time, and have fun with it, honestly. I know it's a lot of cliches, but you've got to simplify it at times. That's what our team needs to do, is simplify it and have some fun out there."
Buffalo (26-22-4, 56 points) sits fifth in the Atlantic Division, currently six points back of the Eastern Conference's second Wild Card position with several games in hand on nearly all of their closest opponents.
