The Winnipeg Jets try to put the brakes on a three-game losing streak on Tuesday when they play the first of five straight road games against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center.
Winnipeg closed out a winless homestand on Sunday by dropping a 3-2 decision to the Boston Bruins. Alexander Burmistrov had a goal and an assist, while Evander Kane also lit the lamp for the Jets, who were 0-3-0 on the stand and have lost seven of nine overall.
Ondrej Pavelec stopped 23-of-26 shots for Winnipeg, which played without Tobias Enstrom due to a shoulder injury.
"It's tough. We played tonight against another great team and we lost," Pavelec said.
Enstrom left Saturday's contest with an upper body injury and is questionable for Tuesday's tilt. He missed 20 games last season with a broken collar bone.
Winnipeg will also face Carolina, Philadelphia, New Jersey and the Rangers on this trip. The Jets will play nine of their next 11 on the road and are 2-3-1 away from home this season.
"We have to start winning on the road," Pavelec said. "We lost a couple games at home in our building where we felt comfortable, so now we have to start winning on the road. I don't want to say this is the most important road trip of the season, but the next five or six games are going to be huge. If we don't play well on the road, we could be in big trouble."
Buffalo, meanwhile, rallied from an early 2-0 hole on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but ultimately fell, 4-3, thanks to Paul Martin's tally with just 2:06 left in regulation.
Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, which overcame a horrific start to the contest to take a 3-2 edge on Steve Ott's marker 5:17 into the final period. Christian Ehrhoff delivered a pair of assists in the setback, the Sabres' third in four games, with Ryan Miller stopping 31 shots on the afternoon.
"Either we're not confident enough or experienced enough with a lead in the third period," said Miller, who went 1-2-0 with a 3.94 goals-against average versus the Jets last season. "That burned us. That's not acceptable."
Buffalo, which will be playing the last of a three-game homestand on Tuesday, is 3-4-1 in its own building.
"I liked the determination of the guys to battle back and continue to push, but at the end of it all we'd be a lot happier right now with the two points that we deserve to be walking out with," said Ott.
Winnipeg has won three straight in this series. However, the Sabres have walked away with a victory in seven of the last 11 matchups as the home team.
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