Ryan Miller will be in the house for a ceremonial puck drop.

Game 45

Buffalo Sabres (22-19-3) vs. Anaheim Ducks (13-28-5)

Puck Drop: 12:30 PM EST | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY

TV: MSG-B

Radio: WGR 550

Know Your Opponent

Anaheim Ducks

Record: 13-28-5 | 31 PTS

Last Game: 5-3 win over Columbus

Division Ranking: 8th in Pacific Division

PP: 16.3% (28th)

PK: 72.2% (30th)

What to Watch

1. Sink or Swim

The Ducks have struggled this season, as evidenced by their overall record. Their 5-3 in Columbus on Thursday snapped a five-game losing skid. Coming into Saturday’s game, they’ve lost 10 of their last 14 games dating back to December 20.

This is a game the Sabres should win, and it could be a big confidence-booster for them after they struggled a bit against the Islanders on Thursday.

2. Players to Watch

On the Buffalo side, Casey Mittelstadt has quietly recorded eight points – all assists – in his last nine games. Alex Tuch is on a three-game point streak, while Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Olofsson and Jeff Skinner have all racked up impressive numbers of points over their recent stretches, too.

On the flip side, the top producers on the Ducks are Troy Terry, who has 38 points in 46 games; Trevor Zegras, of course, with 37 points in 46 games, and Adam Henrique, with 27 points in 45 games. While none of them are quite at the level of Buffalo’s top scorers, they’re still ones to keep an eye on.

3. Editor’s Note

A quick editor’s note here. Yesterday was really challenging after getting the news from Vox. The future is still very much in flux with just over a month before Vox’s support (financial and otherwise) is officially pulled, but I’m genuinely touched by all the positive comments I’ve seen. It’s clear that Die by the Blade provides value to this community, and though I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen moving forward – it’s really meaningful to have such support from those who frequent this site.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch

JJ Peterka – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn

Casey Mittelstadt – Tyson Jost – Victor Olofsson

Zemgus Girgensons – Peyton Krebs – Kyle Okposo

Defense

Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin

Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju

Jacob Bryson – Ilya Lyubushkin

Goaltenders: Craig Anderson, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Anaheim Ducks

Forwards

Adam Henrique – Isac Lundestrom – Troy Terry

Maxime Comtois – Trevor Zegras – Ryan Strome

Frank Vatrano – Jayson Megna – Jakob Silfverberg

Max Jones – Sam Carrick – Brett Leason

Defense

Cam Fowler – Dmitry Kulikov

Simon Benoit – John Klingberg

Urho Vaakanainen – Kevin Shattenkirk

Goaltenders: John Gibson, Anthony Stolarz

Injured: Jamie Drysdale, Derek Grant, Mason McTavish, Justin Kirkland