Buffalo @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 4, 2020 ) Colorado 6, Buffalo 1

The injury bug has bitten the Colorado Avalanche hard but they are biting back as they host the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. Colorado is missing its third-highest goal scorers in Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri, and No. 1 goaltender Philipp Grubauer among others but has won three straight and is 11-3-1 in its last 15 games as the club tries to utilize a different style of play without some of its offensive pop.

"Just with all the guys we have out of the lineup, we have to check hard,'' Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told the media after Saturday's 2-1 shootout victory at Los Angeles. "I just don't see us putting up a lot of goals with a bunch of the key guys missing. Stick with it, be a resilient team, and that's something we're going to need here down the stretch." Colorado is in a three-way battle with St. Louis and Dallas for Central supremacy with a big gap back to fourth place in the division. Buffalo is enjoying its finest stretch since October with five wins in its last six games after Sunday's 2-1 victory over Winnipeg but hasn't made the playoffs since 2011 and has a big hill to climb to do so this season. The Avalanche prevailed 6-1 on Feb. 4 for their fourth straight victory over the Sabres behind a career-high four points by Andre Burakovsky.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet, TVA

ABOUT THE SABRES (29-25-8): The club acquired forwards Wayne Simmonds (498 career points) and Dominik Kahun at the trade deadline and they are expected to make their debuts Wednesday. Jack Eichel, who paces the team with 35 goals and 77 points, was kept off the scoresheet Sunday after recording four goals and seven assists during a seven-game point streak. Kyle Okposo scored twice Sunday for his first multi-goal game since March 31, 2018 and has nine this season.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (36-18-7): Vladislav Namestnikov was acquired from Ottawa on Monday after recording 13 goals and 25 points this season and hopes to add a jolt to the attack. Burakovsky (20 goals, 45 points) remains day-to-day because of illness after missing Sunday's game. Nathan MacKinnon boasts team highs of 33 goals and 84 points but hasn't recorded a point in two straight contests for only the second time this season with the first coming in early November.

OVERTIME

1. Colorado has a plus-46 goal differential - best in the West and third in the NHL behind Tampa Bay and Boston.

2. The Avalanche are 10-1-2 versus the Atlantic Division while Buffalo is 5-5-0 versus the Central.

3. The Sabres were 0-for-3 on the power play versus Winnipeg after going 5-for-11 in their previous four games while Colorado is 1-for-16 with the man advantage in its past five contests and 10-for-10 on the penalty kill in the same span.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 3, Sabres 2