Sabres-Senators Preview

The Buffalo Sabres will try to continue their high-scoring ways this week but haven't fared well in recent road games.

They'll try to change that Tuesday night against the slumping Ottawa Senators while matching their longest win streak this season.

Buffalo (23-28-6) scored 10 goals in back-to-back home victories and had three in the opening period of a 4-1 win over Colorado on Sunday. Jack Eichel found the net 2:02 into the game to end a six-game drought, and Evander Kane tallied his sixth in eight contests.

"There's a lot of positive things going on in this locker room," Eichel said. "I think as a team we can get on a little bit of a streak and start to patch together a few more wins in a row."

Kane, though, has been suspended for this game after missing practice Monday morning, sleeping in after attending the All-Star game in Toronto on Sunday.

The Sabres have netted one goal in each of their back-to-back road losses but registered a 3-2 victory in Ottawa on Jan. 26. Eichel scored twice as Buffalo ended a four-game skid to the Senators (25-26-6) and a six-game road losing streak in the series.

The Sabres play five of their next six away from home and seek their first string of three consecutive victories since Nov. 7-12 to kick off that stretch.

They'll face a team that's dropped three in a row, one shy of matching its longest skid this season, and slow starts have hindered Ottawa in that slump. The Senators have failed to score in at least the first 30 minutes in each of those games and didn't get on the scoreboard until the third period Saturday in a 4-2 loss at Columbus.

"It's real important. We've had trouble starting games this year," Kyle Turris said after practice Monday. "We need to be better at that. So getting a good start, getting off on the right foot with lots of energy, especially at home, get the crowd on your side, it makes the game a lot easier."

The Senators are still seeking their first win since acquiring former Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf in a nine-player deal last Tuesday. The veteran defenseman has three assists in his three games with the team.

Phaneuf doesn't have a point in his last six games against Buffalo while fellow star blueliner Erik Karlsson has three goals and two assists in his past five matchups. Karlsson's 11 career goals versus the Sabres are his most against any opponent.

Bobby Ryan has six goals and three assists in his last seven meetings, and Turris scored twice in the first game against Buffalo this season, a 3-1 win Oct. 8.

Eichel has three of his 17 goals in the two games versus Ottawa, the rookie's most against any team. Kane began his current scoring binge by tallying the Sabres' first goal in last month's victory.

The Senators haven't lost four straight since an 0-2-2 skid Oct. 15-24. They've won two of three at home, where they play their next three games.

Ottawa has scored at least one power-play goal in four straight contests, going 5 for 20 in that run. Buffalo has killed off 17 of 19 penalties in its last six games, including a season-high six against Colorado.