Storylines
1. Don’t lose two
Ruff has said he wants the Sabres to become a team that doesn’t lose two games in a row. He spoke about that challenge following a loss to Montreal last week, and the team responded with a victory in its next game against St. Louis.
Ruff spoke on that challenge again prior to the team’s departure for California.
“We've challenged ourselves not to lose two in a row,” Ruff said. “We just come off an awful loss. So, we have ourselves in a position where we have a good trip and we come home, we'll have pretty solid position to keep moving up the standings, so that’s our challenge”
The Sabres enter play on Wednesday just two points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, currently occupied by the New York Islanders.
2. Staying disciplined
Ruff said the Sabres’ focus coming out of the Flyers game is on discipline, both in terms of staying out of the penalty box and in how they manage the puck.
“Some of our puck plays were less than what you'd see out of an NHL team, and that allowed Philly to stay in our zone,” he said. “When we're on our game, we're out of the zone and we're connected. We have pieces in place and we're ready to go north and get out of the zone. I thought we played slow (in Philadelphia). I thought we looked slow and played slow”
3. Scouting the Kings
This is the second and final meeting between the Sabres and Kings this season. The Sabres earned a 33-22 advantage in shots when the two teams met in Buffalo on Oct. 10, but the Kings won 3-1 behind a third-period hat trick from Anze Kopitar and a 32-save performance from Darcy Kuemper.
“It was a game that we felt with the number of opportunities we had and what the numbers said, we probably should have scored six or seven in that game, and we scored one,” Ruff recalled earlier this week. “But, watching them play now, they're giving up a lot less, they're playing a tighter style and it'll be a harder game for us for sure.”
Kuemper is currently on injured reserve and considered day to day, but the Kings have tightened up defensively as the season has progressed. They allow 9.82 high-danger chances per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick, which is the fifth-lowest mark in the NHL.
Kopitar leads the Kings with 21 points. Forward Trevor Moore enters Wednesday on an eight-game point streak.
