Metropolitan leader Carolina and Buffalo meet
Buffalo Sabres (26-34-11, sixth in the Atlantic) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (45-17-8, first in the Metropolitan)
Raleigh, North Carolina; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres face the top-ranked team in the Metropolitan, the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes are 24-12-6 in conference games. Carolina ranks third in the Eastern Conference averaging 5.8 assists per game, led by Tony DeAngelo with 0.7.
The Sabres are 12-19-10 in conference games. Buffalo has surrendered 44 power-play goals, stopping 75.4% of opponent opportunities.
The teams meet for the second straight game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes with 31 goals and has 69 points. Seth Jarvis has five goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Carolina.
Tage Thompson leads the Sabres with 31 goals and has 55 points. Jeff Skinner has six goals and four assists over the last 10 games for Buffalo.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hurricanes: 4-3-3, averaging 3.2 goals, 5.8 assists, 4.4 penalties and 11.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game with a .913 save percentage.
Sabres: 6-1-3, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.6 assists, 2.1 penalties and 4.2 penalty minutes while allowing three goals per game with a .900 save percentage.
INJURIES: Hurricanes: Jesperi Kotkaniemi: out (lower-body), Ethan Bear: day to day (lower-body).
Sabres: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.