Sabres-Sharks Preview

Regular Season Matchup
	W-L-OT	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
BUF	39-31-12	20-15-6	19-16-6	15-13-4	35-25-12
SAN	49-23-10	22-13-6	27-10-4	16-10-6	44-18-10
· Complete Standings

Team Stat Comparison
251	Goals	216
233	Goals Against	187
66	Power Play Goals	70
56	Power Play Goals Allowed	44
9	Shorthanded Goals	7
8	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	9
1004	Penalty Minutes	1075
12	Average Penalty Minutes	13

Goalie Breakdown
	GOALIE	GP	W	TGA	GAA	SO	SV	SV%
	Ryan Miller	76	36	197	2.64	3	1907	.906
	Jocelyn Thibault	12	3	28	3.31	2	186	.869
	Evgeni Nabokov	77	46	163	2.14	6	1639	.910
	Brian Boucher	5	3	7	1.76	1	96	.932
	Dimitri Patzold	3	0	4	5.51	0	16	.800
	Thomas Greiss	3	0	7	3.26	0	43	.860

Team Stat Leaders
G	Thomas Vanek 36	Joe Thornton 29
A	Jason Pominville 53	Joe Thornton 67
PTS	Derek Roy 81	Joe Thornton 96
PIM	Andrew Peters 100	Craig Rivet 104
SOG	Thomas Vanek 240	Milan Michalek 233

No player is more deserving of a night off than Evgeni Nabokov. Sitting down one of the league's hottest goaltenders, though, won't be easy for San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson.

The Sharks seek their season-high fifth straight victory Saturday night when they play host to the Buffalo Sabres for the first time in almost five years.

Nabokov has been one of the league's top goalies for the past six seasons, but appears to be making the jump to elite status in 2007-08. He leads the NHL in wins (15), ranks third in goals-against average (1.93), and is tied for second in shutouts (4).

The Phoenix Coyotes can attest to how good Nabokov has been this season after they were shut out by the San Jose netminder for the third straight time, 1-0 on Friday.

Nabokov stopped 27 shots for his 38th career shutout, and Milan Michalek scored with 15 seconds left in the second period as San Jose (15-8-4) moved into a tie with Dallas atop the Pacific Division.

"Incredible goaltending from the first game of the season right up to game 26," Sharks defenseman Craig Rivet said. "What can I say? He's been the backbone for us all year. He gives us confidence."

Nabokov is the only goalie in the NHL to start all of his team's games this season. Rookie backup Dimitri Patzold has made only two relief appearances -- none since Oct. 26.

Each of the Sharks' wins during their current streak have been by one goal with the first three coming by 3-2 scores.

Joe Thornton assisted on Michalek's goal to extend his point streak to five games. Thornton has four goals and seven assists during his run and seven goals with 14 assists in his last 15 games against the Sabres.

Michalek has points in four straight games, tallying two goals and three assists in that span.

While Friday's victory was San Jose's league-leading 11th on the road, it's only 4-5-2 at home. The Sharks ended a three-game winless skid at HP Pavilion with a 3-2 victory over Colorado on Nov. 30.

The Sabres started their three-game road trip having won six of seven, but have been badly outplayed in losses at Anaheim and Los Angeles.

Buffalo (12-13-1) followed a 4-1 loss to the Ducks on Wednesday by allowing the first seven goals in an embarrassing 8-2 loss Thursday to the Kings.

Jocelyn Thibault allowed four goals on 14 shots before he was replaced by Ryan Miller at the start of the second period. Miller didn't fare much better, giving up four goals on 19 shots over the final 40 minutes.

Miller, who is expected to make his second career start against San Jose, is 1-2-0 with a 3.56 GAA in his last four games overall.

The Sabres are 0-4-1 with four ties in their last nine games at San Jose since a 7-1 victory in their first visit there on Nov. 12, 1991.

This will be Buffalo's first road game against San Jose since the teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Jan. 16, 2003. The Sharks won the most recent meeting 5-0 at Buffalo on Dec. 2, 2005.