Preview: Ducks Visit Sabres as Zegras Returns to Scene of the Dime

The Ducks will take the ice bright and early Saturday, continuing a six-game road trip and facing off with the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow at Keybank Center.
PUCK DROP: 9:30 A.M. PT | TV: BALLY SPORTS SOCAL | DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER

Anaheim visits Buffalo at the halfway point of its road trip, fresh of a thrilling comeback victory Thursday night in Columbus. The Ducks trailed 3-0 after the opening 20 minutes, but rallied for five unanswered goals to the club's fifth multi-goal comeback win of the year, tied for most in the NHL.

"A great credit to our men to have a neutral mindset and deal with the task at hand after getting behind by three," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "The easy choice is to pack it in and get through the rest of the game. We chose the hard choice to work through it and keep battling. The hard way is always the rewarding way."
"It was some good resiliency by our group," Cam Fowler added. "Obviously, we didn't get off to the start we wanted to, but even at this point of the season with how things have gone for us, we still continue to fight and claw our way back into games. We came up with a big third period to get the win. It's something we should be proud of."
The night also included a milestone moment for netminder John Gibson, who earned his 174th career victory, all as a Duck, passing Guy Hebert for second-most in franchise history.

"It's an honor," Gibson told rinkside reporter Aly Lozoff postgame. "There are a lot of good goalies who have played here in the past, so to pass some of those names is an honor. The guys really played well for me for those two periods out there, so I have to give a lot of credit to them."
"He's been a rock back there for us ever since he's been drafted and got the opportunity to play," Fowler said. "He's one of the best goaltenders in the league...He doesn't get the recognition he deserves, but he's a guy that you can rely on night in and night out. He came in and stood tall for us tonight and was a big reason we were able to get that win."
Gibson came on in relief after the first period for his first victory "out of the bullpen" since Dec. 2018.
"We just had to push back," Gibson said. "Obviously, it wasn't our best first period from the whole team and we wanted to come out and respond. We knew we had a chance to come back and the team did a great job."
The Ducks last visited Buffalo in Dec. 2021, earning a 2-0 shutout win in which Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves and Sam Carrick helped seal the victory with a late-third period goal. Also,

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The goal quickly became one of the most viral moments in NHL history,
viewed more than 50-million times across all social platforms in the following days
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Thirteen months later, the Ducks will now take on a Sabres team contending for its first postseason berth since the 2010-11 season and coming off an emotional night spent honoring a mutual friend, goalie Ryan Miller. The winningest American-born goalie in NHL history, Miller played his final four NHL seasons as a Duck from 2017-21.

The Sabres retired Miller's #30 before the game and then overcame two one-goal deficits to beat the rival Islanders in overtime, pulling within four points of the second Wild Card spot.
"I was really happy that we stayed with the gameplan and stayed on our game," Sabres coach Don Granato said postgame. "No frustration, just belief all the way through to the final point. That was awesome to see our guys stick to it and get rewarded for it."