The Hockey News' Derek Lee reports from the Ducks' morning skate.
ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Ducks return home to face the Buffalo Sabres after sweeping a road back-to-back against the Dallas Stars and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Ducks are on a three-game winning streak heading into tonight's game.
Both teams enter tonight's matchup with a .500 record. The Sabres won their last game 1-0 over the Los Angeles Kings.
"Their D are very active," Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said. "When you have that type of second-wave offense, managing that is a challenge. When they enter the (offensive) zone on rushes, they'll pull up and hit the defenseman late. They're very active in the offensive zone."
"You've got to be aware of (certain) guys on the ice and not give them too much," forward Jansen Harkins said. "I think they've got a lot of good young talent."
With the Ducks looking to win their fourth consecutive game tonight, Harkins said the team just needs to keep playing the way it has during its current run.
"(We've been) playing the same way for the entirety of the game. I think that's usually when things start to click when you don't deviate from the system or the plan no matter how the game is going."
"I think the team has bought into (the system)," Cronin said. "When you have that structure and it's reliable and the players can play fast because they know the direction the puck is going, it connects people. When you get off the grid, the solution is pretty simple: just get back on the grid.
"I've had a number of people say that in the last five or six games that we're faster and I think that's true because we know where we're going with the puck and people can skate onto the puck. When you build that lateral speed onto the puck, it gets you into foot races where you can get into an advantageous position when you arrive at the (puck) battle."
The Sabres will be without center Tage Thompson tonight. Thompson, whose father (Brent) is an assistant coach for the Ducks, has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury.
Mason McTavish returned to practice yesterday for the Ducks, but he will not play tonight. He continues to work his way back from an upper-body injury.
Ducks Projected Lines
Trevor Zegras - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier - Isac Lundeström - Brett Leason
Ross Johnston - Jansen Harkins - Sam Colangelo
Pavel Mintyukov - Radko Gudas
Jackson LaCombe - Olen Zellweger
Brian Dumoulin - Drew Helleson
John Gibson (confirmed)
Sabres Projected Lines
J.J. Peterka - Ryan McLeod - Alex Tuch
Zach Benson - Dylan Cozens - Sam Lafferty
Jason Zucker - Jiri Kulich - Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn - Peyton Krebs - Nicolas Aubé-Kubel
Rasmus Dahlin - Bowen Byram
Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson - Connor Clifton
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (projected)