Ducks make it six in a row

ANAHEIM -- Frederik Andersen earned his first shutout in more than a year and Sami Vatanen scored the lone goal to help the Anaheim Ducks to a 1-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Honda Center on Wednesday.
Anaheim (32-19-8) has won six straight games and is 20-4-2 in its past 26.

Andersen made 26 saves for his first shutout since Jan. 27, 2015. He's riding his best streak of the season, having won four straight. Andersen is 10-0-1 in his past 11 starts.
"In a 1-0 game, you always want to make sure you get the win," said Andersen, who is 4-0-0 lifetime against the Sabres. "The way we defended tonight was good. We didn't give up too much. You've got to take the wins any way you can, but you want to play solid defensively with a good forecheck in the third period. It's pretty much the perfect recipe."

Vatanen scored with the man-advantage at 3:20 of the second period when Ryan Getzlaf fed Vatanan for a long-range snap shot through traffic. The Ducks have scored a power-play goal in each of their past six games.
"It's been working lately," Vatanen said of the power play. "We're moving the puck fast and shooting it. Simple. When you start to play simple, after that the nice plays come."
Getzlaf extended his point streak to nine games with the assist.
Robin Lehner made 28 saves for Buffalo (24-30-7). It was Lehner's 100th NHL game.
"He played great for us. He gave us a chance," Sabres forward Brian Gionta said. "He kept us in it and allowed us to continue to push."

Buffalo's best opportunity came with 4:21 left in the second period. Evander Kane led a 3-on-1 rush and took a shot from the high slot that Andersen failed to glove. Justin Bailey tried to backhand it in from in front of the crease, but Andersen sprawled out and kicked it away to deny Bailey of his first NHL goal.
"They got an odd-man rush and [Kane] dragged it in close to the stick of a defenseman and made a good shot," Andersen said. "I didn't get it all the way, but I was lucky enough to get over for the rebound and get a piece of that too."
Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said the save was a game-changer.
"We would have had to win 2-1," Boudreau said. "We would have had to get another one if he wasn't there. When he's on, he can make the saves that nobody can make. We've seen it time and time again. You just don't expect that. He's a big man who's very mobile in the net."

The Sabres were 0-for-4 on the power play; Anaheim was 1-for-3.
Buffalo hadn't allowed a power-play goal in its past four games.
"I'm not going to be satisfied with being stride for stride with them," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "As a good hockey team we had every opportunity to win and get a few goals in that game, but we came up short. That's certainly a good team, but I think we could have won."