Field Level Media
26 Jan 2023, 08:05 GMT+10
Winners of four straight and 5-1-1 in their past seven games, the Buffalo Sabres will look to keep rolling when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.
The current winning streak comes after the Sabres dropped five of their previous six outings.
"I think whether we're on the road or athome, I just think we have a group that loves hockey, loves to compete, and I think that's just kind of where we're at as a team right now," Tage Thompson said. "We've got a lot of guys that are just hungry to win and hungry to perform every night, and I think you see it."
The goals have tailed off a touch for Thompson, with just two in his past 10 games, but he's still picking up the points, riding a five-game point streak in which he has two goals and six assists.
"The last guy you need to worry about is Tage as long he's healthy and going," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "This has been a lot of games in a really short time. So he's finding different ways to contribute through the fatigue and through different challenges and obviously opponents playing him different, which is all good. It's great. Through that pressure and that challenge, he's going to find ways to become better and more intuitive, and we're seeing that firsthand."
Jeff Skinner became the fourth member of the Sabres to hit 20 goals for the season with a tally Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues. Buffalo is tied with the Edmonton Oilers for most players to reach the mark.
Dylan Cozens is inching closer to making it five Buffalo players with at least 20 goals after scoring his 17th of the season against St. Louis. The 21-year-old has three goals in his past four games and is fifth in team scoring with 43 points in 47 games.
The Jets are back home for a five-game homestand after playing eight of their previous nine contests on the road. Winnipeg lost three of five on its most recent road trip, closing it with a 2-1 setback against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
"It's disappointing going 2-3," Pierre-Luc Dubois said. "We want to keep building that gap between us and other teams. This road trip feels like a bit of a slide down. But there's a lot of hockey left and we can play better, and we know it."
Rookie Cole Perfetti has enjoyed his time on the top line with Dubois and Kyle Connor. After snapping a 15-game goal drought last Saturday, Perfetti set up his linemates in each of the next two games and hopes to keep that success going.
"Playing with two guys like that, you know what they can create and their offensive abilities," Perfetti said. "We're going to get better and better every game. ... It's a pleasure playing with them, and I'm having so much fun doing that, giving passes to these guys. It makes the game fun. Hopefully, we build off this trip a little bit and keep creating that way."
Perfetti is second among NHL freshman with 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists), behind Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers (36 points).
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Sports Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Sports Sun.
More InformationThe Denver Nuggets hope to capitalize on an advantage given them by the NBA schedule-maker when they host the travel-weary ...
The Cleveland Cavaliers look to bounce back from a rare home loss when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday. ...
The Boston Celtics didn't do much wrong in the opening quarter and breezed to a 139-96 home victory over the ...
Dejounte Murray recorded 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks never trailed while drubbing the host ...
Lauri Markkanen scored 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and rookie Walker Kessler had a big game on both ends ...
Los Angeles Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman expressed no regrets Wednesday about the team's ...
The PGA Tour makes the 14th of 44 regular-season stops in the FedEx Cup season at one of the world's ...
Hall of Fame NFL executive Bobby Beathard, an architect of four Super Bowl titles for two different teams, has died ...
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is teaming up with the American Heart Association on an initiative promoting CPR. Hamlin had ...
He inspired, confounded and dominated peers for 23 years in the NFL, but Tom Brady insists he's leaving for real ...
The San Francisco quarterback room just got smaller as 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan signaled Wednesday that Jimmy Garoppolo will ...
Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours. PGA ...