Sharpen Up | Sabres open 3-game road trip out west Tuesday in Anaheim

The Buffalo Sabres kick off a three-game road trip out west on Tuesday after concluding their six-game homestand with a 3-3 record.

The Sabres saw wins at home against Ottawa, San Jose, and Chicago, while falling to Seattle, Vancouver, and Tampa Bay.

Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made five consecutive starts, recording a 3-2 record and a .947 save percentage as he stopped 107 of 113 shots, including a total of 47 saves in a pair of 3-0 shutout wins over San Jose and Chicago last week.

Buffalo was led by Casey Mittelstadt, who tallied six points (1+5) in six games during the homestand. Rasmus Dahlin added five points (1+4) and Alex Tuch recorded two goals and two assists.

The Sabres’ penalty kill went 15-for-16 at KeyBank Center in January, including a perfect 15-for-15 in their last five games.

Here’s everything you need to know heading into the road trip.

SABRES AFTER DARK

The road trip begins with a back-to-back set of Sabres After Dark contests, with Buffalo set to face off against Anaheim at 10 p.m. on Tuesday and Los Angeles at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

The group will then visit San Jose on Saturday for an afternoon matchup with the Sharks before embarking on the All-Star break.

Tuesday’s game in Anaheim will be exclusively televised on ESPN+/Hulu while the other two games will be broadcast on MSG/MSG+.

See below for full game details.

Tuesday, Jan. 23: Buffalo at Anaheim, 10 p.m. (TV: ESPN+/Hulu) (Radio: WGR 550)

Wednesday, Jan. 24: Buffalo at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m. (TV: MSG/MSG+ - Pregame show begins at 10 p.m.) (Radio: WGR 550)

Saturday, Jan. 27: Buffalo at San Jose, 4 p.m. (TV: MSG/MSG+ - Pregame show begins at 3:30 p.m.) (Radio: WGR 550)

ALL-STAR WEEKEND IS APPROACHING

Following the road trip, Dahlin will represent the Sabres in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, which will be held at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 3 p.m.

To watch Dahlin compete with some of the NHL’s biggest stars, fans in the U.S. can tune in on ABC or ESPN+ while fans in Canada can watch on CBC or TVA Sports.

The weekend will kick off with All-Star Thursday, which will include the Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Player Draft and the Canadian Tire Professional Women’s Hockey League 3-on-3 Showcase.

Friday’s events will feature the NHL All-Star Skills competition as 12 players will compete for a prize of $1 million.

Both Thursday’s and Friday’s festivities will air on ESPN and ESPN+ in the U.S. and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.

AMERKS UPDATE

The Rochester Americans enter their week on a three-game winning streak after defeating Lehigh Valley, Utica, and Springfield last week.

Eric Comrie stopped 32 of 32 shots against Lehigh Valley to earn the shutout in a 6-0 win on Wednesday before he was recalled by the Sabres on Saturday as Devon Levi was loaned to Rochester.

Levi made his first appearance at Blue Cross Arena against Springfield on Saturday, making 14 saves in a 7-3 victory to earn his second AHL career win.

On Sunday, Buffalo recalled Levi from Rochester and assigned Comrie to the Amerks ahead of the Sabres’ three-game road swing.

Lukas Rousek recorded points in all three wins for the Amerks, extending his point streak to a career-high 13 games. The forward has 14 points (4+10) in that span for the longest active point streak in the American Hockey League.

PHOTO GALLERIES

CONTENT CORNER

Catch up on our latest Sabres content from Kids Takeover Day on Saturday!