Buffalo plays Pittsburgh on 8-game road skid

Buffalo Sabres (6-21-4, eighth in the East Division) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (20-11-2, third in the East Division)

Pittsburgh; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Buffalo travels to Pittsburgh looking to break its eight-game road slide.

The Penguins are 20-11-2 against East Division teams. Pittsburgh is eighth in the NHL with 30.0 shots per game and is averaging 3.1 goals.

The Sabres are 6-21-4 against the rest of their division. Buffalo serves 6.1 penalty minutes per game, the least in the league. Rasmus Ristolainen leads the team averaging 0.8.

The teams square off for the second game in a row.

TOP PERFORMERS: Sidney Crosby has 34 total points for the Penguins, 13 goals and 21 assists. Jake Guentzel has six goals and four assists over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.

Jack Eichel leads the Sabres with 16 total assists and has 18 points. Brandon Montour has 6 points over the last 10 games for Buffalo.

LAST 10 GAMES: Penguins: 7-2-1, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.6 assists, 2.9 penalties and 7.2 penalty minutes while giving up 1.6 goals per game with a .948 save percentage.

Sabres: 0-9-1, averaging 1.8 goals, 3.1 assists, 3.2 penalties and 7.5 penalty minutes while giving up four goals per game with an .877 save percentage.

INJURIES: Penguins: Kasperi Kapanen: day to day (lower body), Teddy Blueger: out (upper body), Brandon Tanev: day to day (upper body).

Sabres: Rasmus Asplund: day to day (undisclosed), Kyle Okposo: day to day (undisclosed), Carter Hutton: day to day (undisclosed), Jake McCabe: out (knee), Will Borgen: out (forearm), Jack Eichel: out (upper body), Tage Thompson: day to day (illness), Linus Ullmark: out (lower body).

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