GDT: Buffalo Sabres @ Ottawa Senators

Buffalo Sabres Gameday

The Buffalo Sabres roll into Scotiabank Place tonight riding a four-game winning streak ... This is the fifth of eight meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season ... Buffalo is 1-3-0 against Ottawa, including a 3-1 loss in the last game on December 16 in Buffalo ... Buffalo's last game was a 3-1 win over the NY Islanders on Monday ... Ottawa's last game was a 3-2 OT loss to Atlanta on Monday.

The Sabres have outscored their opponents 13-2 in the 2nd period over their last 10 games ... Ryan Miller has a 1.50 GAA during Buffalo's four-game winning streak ... Miller has allowed just two second-period goals in his last seven starts ... Buffalo hasn't allowed a power play goal in 18 straight chances ... The Sabres are 15-0-2 when Jason Pominville scores a goal this season ... Thomas Vanek and Chris Drury both scored their 20th goals of the season in Thursday's win over Carolina ... The Sabres are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games; 6-3-1 in their last 10 on the road ... The Sens are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games; 6-3-1 in their last 10 at home ... Buffalo's next game is Friday vs. Pittsburgh (8 p.m.) at HSBC Arena.

IT'S MILLER TIME!: Ryan Miller backstopped the Sabres to a sweep of their four-game holiday homestand last week, with wins over Washington, Carolina, Atlanta and the New York Islanders. Miller allowed just six goals in the four games, posting a 1.50 GAA and .948 save percentage.

After giving up three goals in the 6-3 win over Washington, Miller allowed just one goal in each of the next three wins -- all in the third period. Miller is third in the NHL with 21 wins, despite missing five games in November with a muscle strain.

THESE SABRES ARE SHARP: Aided by the four-game home winning streak, the Sabres have picked up 11 of a possible 12 points in their past six games. The Sabres are now seven points ahead of Atlanta for first place in the Eastern Conference, and sit one back of Anaheim (with two games in hand) for the overall NHL lead.

WELCOME TO POMINVILLE: With 18 goals and 12 assists through Buffalo's first 39 games, Jason Pominville has now matched his scoring output from the entire 2005-06 campaign when he played 57 games following a late November promotion from Rochester. Winning seems to be a regular occurence when Pominville finds the back of the net for Buffalo. Pominville's 18th goal of the season on Saturday was the game winner in Buffalo's 4-1 win over Atlanta.

Pominville is second on the Sabres -- and third in the NHL -- with four GWG's this season. The Sabres have yet to lose in regulation in the 17 games when Pominville has scored, posting a record of 15-0-2. Pominville scored in Buffalo's shootout loss to Atlanta on Oct. 28, and in the OT loss to St. Louis on Dec. 23.

HE'S NOT ALONE: Pominville isn't the only Sabres sniper who has been creating wins for the team this season. The Sabres are 15-1 when Chris Drury and Maxim Afinogenov scores, and 16-2-0-1 when Thomas Vanek buries the biscuit.

KILLING THEM SOFTLY: Buffalo entered play on Tuesday 11th overall in the NHL in penalty killing. The Sabres haven't allowed a power play goal in 18 straight chances dating back to December 21 at Nashville when Jason Arnott scored in the 3rd period of Buffalo's 7-2 win.

VANEK HITS 20...: Thomas Vanek scored his 20th goal of the season on Thursday, becoming the first Sabres player to reach the 20-goal mark in his first two seasons since Ray Sheppard did it in 1987-88 and 1988-89. Sheppard scored 38 goals in his rookie year, the second highest freshman total in Sabres history. He followed that up with 22 goals in his second year.

Vanek, who scored 25 goals and added 23 assists in his rookie year, now has 22 goals and 19 assists in the first 39 games of his sophomore season. That total is third among second-year players, trailing only Sidney Crosby (55 points) and Alex Ovechkin (49). Last season it took Vanek until the team's 60th game on March 7 to record his 20th goal.

...AND SO DOES DRURY: Chris Drury, who recorded his first 30-goal campaign last season, also scored his 20th goal of the season on Thursday in his 36th game of the year. (Drury missed one game with the flu on Dec. 12 @ NJ) Last year it took the Sabres co-captain until the team's 62nd game on March 11 to reach 20 goals.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE: Vanek and Drury became the first Sabres to score their 20th goals before January 1 since Dave Andreychuk, Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny all accomplished this in the 1992-93 season. Andreychuk scored #20 in his 26th game; LaFontaine's came in game 27; and Mogilny's was in game 29.

SWEEPING THE CHAMPS: With Thursday's win over Carolina, the Sabres have now swept the four-game season series from the defending Stanley Cup champions for the second straight season. Last year, the Sabres won all four of their games against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Cup in 2003-04.

NHL.com Preview

The Ottawa Senators were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season, but could not get past the Buffalo Sabres in the playoffs.

Now Buffalo sits atop the standings but can't seem to beat Ottawa.

The Sabres are coming off a perfect four-game homestand as they go back on the road Wednesday looking to avoid falling to the Senators for a fourth straight time.

"I don't like to lose to them," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said after his team's 3-1 home loss to Ottawa on Dec. 16 in the most recent meeting.

"It gives them confidence. It's something we have to rectify as a team."

The Sabres (29-7-3) needed only five games to knock out the Senators (21-18-2) in last season's conference semifinals en route to the Stanley Cup finals. Buffalo has performed as if it could end up playing for the championship again this season, taking a big conference lead into the new year, but three of its seven losses in regulation have come against its Northeast Division rival.

Since losing 4-3 in the first meeting this season, the Senators have won the last three as they've scored two power-play goals in each game while killing off all but one of the Sabres' 17 extra-man chances.

"I think I owe them a bit for last year," said Senators goaltender Ray Emery, who allowed 15 goals in four playoff losses to the Sabres in May. "If you're not up to play these guys, they'll come back to bite you."

Emery has faced the Sabres three times this season and won them all, surrendering a total of four goals. He is 7-1-1 with a 2.47 goals-against average in nine career regular-season starts against them.

Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller has started twice against Ottawa this season and lost both, allowing seven goals.

However, Miller's recent play is a big reason Buffalo just completed a 4-0-0 homestand. He started every game in that stretch, allowing one goal in each of the last three.

"Ryan gives us a chance to win every night," Sabres center Paul Gaustad said. "He's solid, and one of those goaltenders who is always in the right place at the right time."

Gaustad ended a 17-game goal drought and Miller made 29 saves as Buffalo beat the New York Islanders 3-1 on Monday.

"We wanted to have a good homestand here because every game is important," Miller said. "We wanted to make a statement."

Buffalo scored at least one power-play goal in all four games of the homestand, and has not given one up in 16 short-handed situations over the past five games.

At 15-3-1, the Sabres easily have the league's best road record. They had won their first 10 games away from home this season before losing 4-1 at Ottawa on Nov. 18.

The Senators have not suffered a regulation loss in a season-high five straight games, though they lost 3-2 in overtime to Atlanta on Monday. They forced the extra period thanks to Tom Preissing's power-play goal with 3:55 left in the third period, during which they outshot the Thrashers 11-6.

"We definitely battled, and played the type of game we wanted to, as well," Emery said. "It's a frustrating one to lose, especially when you come back like that. At least we got a point out of it and there were some positive signs out there."

Emery had back-to-back shutouts before allowing two goals in regulation in each of his last two starts, and had a personal three-game win streak snapped Monday.

Ottawa leading scorer Dany Heatley has two goals and six assists in four meetings with Buffalo this season, though he enters this matchup having failed to score a goal in five consecutive games.

Buffalo's Thomas Vanek has four goals and two assists over his last four games, but has only one point in four meetings with Ottawa.

TEAM COMPARISON