Canucks wrap up road trip against Buffalo

BUFFALO (NEWS1130) – The Canucks conclude a five-game east coast road trip tonight in Buffalo. With a victory, Vancouver can go 4-1 on the trip. The Sabres are in the basement of the NHL standings, but Coach Willie Desjardins has assured his team that the game is anything but a lay up.

“They are playing better. If you look at their last five games, five-on-five they have only allowed a few goals against. They are not giving up as near as much as they did at the start. It appears they are having a little bit more fun and they are playing hard.”

Captain Henrik Sedin echoes the words of his coach, saying Buffalo has the ability to surprise.

“These games are tough, but if you can win the battles it goes a long way. If you get a powerplay early in the game and you score you can get them on their heels. It is on our mind for sure.”

While the Canucks are riddled with injuries, the Sabres are just as bruised. Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons lead the team in scoring but are unlikely to play because of lower body injuries.

Zack Kassian will attempt to keep his hot streak going. He has nine points in his last nine game. He should have some extra motivation tonight, playing against the team that drafted him.

“It is nice. It is obviously where I got to start my NHL career. I have a lot of friends here and it was a fun time being here.”

This evening’s game was supposed to be a celebrated return of Ryan Miller to the team that he spent the first 11 years of his career with, but a knee sprain has sidelined the goalie for the next four-to-six weeks. Eddie Lack gets the start in net for the Canucks.

This is the second and final meeting of the year between the two teams. The Canucks topped the Sabres 5-2 on January 30th in Vancouver.

The puck drops at 4 p.m.. You can watch it on Sportsnet Pacific. Listen for game updates every 10 minutes on the fives.