Buffalo @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 24, 2019 ) Buffalo 2, NY Rangers 6

New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider continues to be the subject of trade rumors and has done little to dissuade the suitors who are lining up to make an offer. New York tries for its fourth victory in five games when it hosts the Buffalo Sabres on Friday, but is well out of playoff position and expected to be busy prior to the Feb. 24 trade deadline.

Kreider missed Monday's 5-3 loss to Dallas after he was accidentally kneed in the head by teammate Mika Zibanejad during Saturday's 1-0 victory at Detroit, but returned to score his seventh goal in 10 games in Wednesday's 5-3 win over Toronto. "Kreider coming back from a scary incident and missing one game, I give him a lot of credit for stepping in and picking up really where he left off,'' Rangers coach David Quinn told reporters. "He didn't have any rust, no apprehension on his part.'' Buffalo is free-falling out of playoff contention after a 4-3 shootout loss to Detroit on Thursday left it 1-4-1 in its last six games and gave Detroit its first win in 10 contests. New York prevailed 6-2 on Oct. 24 in the last meeting - the first of three this season - behind two goals by Ryan Strome, and has won three straight over the Sabres by a combined 15-5.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: MSG Buffalo, MSG, TVA

ABOUT THE SABRES (23-23-8): Jack Eichel, who boasts team highs of 31 goals and 66 points, was kept off the scoresheet against Detroit after recording three goals and an assist in his previous four games. Rasmus Dahlin (upper body) missed his second straight contest Thursday but coach Ralph Krueger told the media the injury is not long term. Jonas Johansson made 18 saves versus Detroit in his first career start after debuting by playing 29 minutes, 34 seconds of Tuesday's 6-1 loss to Colorado in relief of Carter Hutton, who is expected to start Friday and is 4-2-0 with a 2.19 goals-against average and .928 save percentage versus New York.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (26-22-4): Zibanejad scored for the third time in four games Wednesday and has 21 goals and 45 points in 39 games. Artemi Panarin leads the team with 27 goals and 71 points but has one assist in three February contests. Kreider has 19 goals while Pavel Buchnevich - Zibanejad and Kreider's linemate - was a plus-4 with a goal and two assists against Toronto.

OVERTIME

1. New York was 0-for-2 with the man advantage against Toronto after going 7-for-13 in its previous four games, but has allowed three power-play goals in six chances over the last two contests.

2. Buffalo LW Jeff Skinner hasn't scored in 16 games and owns 11 goals after totaling a career-high 40 last season - his first with the club.

3. The Sabres (46.0) and Rangers (46.7) are the worst teams in the league in faceoff percentage.

PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Sabres 2