San Jose Sharks (17-16-1, sixth in the Pacific) vs. Buffalo Sabres (10-17-6, sixth in the Atlantic)
Buffalo, New York; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Buffalo hosts San Jose looking to stop its five-game home losing streak.
The Sabres are 6-9-2 at home. Buffalo averages only 3.0 penalties per game, the fewest in the league. Alex Tuch leads them averaging 0.7.
The Sharks are 8-9-0 in road games. San Jose is 10th in the Western Conference recording 7.7 points per game, averaging 2.8 goals and 4.9 assists.
In their last meeting on Nov. 2, San Jose won 5-3. Tomas Hertl recorded a team-high 3 points for the Sharks.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mark Jankowski leads the Sabres with a plus-three in five games this season. Tage Thompson has two goals and four assists over the last 10 games for Buffalo.
Timo Meier leads the Sharks with 35 points, scoring 13 goals and adding 22 assists. Alexander Barabanov has six assists over the last 10 games for San Jose.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sabres: 2-5-3, averaging two goals, 3.7 assists, 2.7 penalties and 7.8 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game with a .913 save percentage.
Sharks: 4-6-0, averaging 3.3 goals, six assists, 3.2 penalties and 8.1 penalty minutes while giving up four goals per game with an .879 save percentage.
INJURIES: Sabres: Alex Tuch: out (health and safety protocols), Casey Fitzgerald: out (covid-19), Peyton Krebs: out (health and safety protocols), Kyle Okposo: out (covid-19), Dustin Tokarski: out (health protocols), Craig Anderson: out (upper body), Colin Miller: day to day (undisclosed), Robert Hagg: out (lower-body), Jacob Bryson: out (covid-19), Anders Bjork: out (health and safety protocols).
Sharks: Lane Pederson: out (health protocols), Jake Middleton: day to day (upper body), Mario Ferraro: out (health protocols), Logan Couture: day to day (health and safety protocols).
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