Hockey Today - October 15
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOREBOARD
Monday, Oct. 15
Toronto at Buffalo (7 p.m. EDT)
The Sabres have 13 goals in their last two games and 19 in four contests this season.
STARS Sunday
-Henrik Zetterberg, Red Wings, had a goal and two assists and Detroit beat Los Angeles 4-1.
-Josh Harding, Wild, posted his third career shutout with a career-high 37 saves, leading Minnesota to a 2-0 victory over Anaheim.
SLUMPING
Detroit beat Los Angeles 4-1 on Sunday night, sending the Kings to their fifth consecutive loss. They have just one win so far, beating the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks in the season-opener in London. The Kings' start is their worst since they were 1-6-0 to open the 1987-88 season, including five consecutive defeats.
WILD START
Josh Harding posted his third career shutout with a career-high 37 saves Sunday night, leading the unbeaten Wild to a 2-0 victory over the defending champion Ducks. Minnesota's 5-0 start leaves the Wild as the NHL's only team without a loss, and puts them one victory away from matching last season's squad for the franchise's best winning streak from the start of a season.
SPEAKING
''I don't want to make too much of this win, but they're the Stanley Cup champions. So we'll keep that in mind and we'll try to keep getting better. It was a chippy game and a hard-fought game. It was like a playoff hockey game.'' - Minnesota's Brian Rolston after helping the Wild to a 2-0 victory over Anaheim on Sunday. The Ducks knocked the Wild out of the playoffs last season and went on to win their first Stanley Cup title.
Monday's key NHL matchup notes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toronto Maple Leafs at Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres went 5-3-0 against the Maple Leafs last season, splitting four home games. Buffalo is 10-4-0 in the past 14 meetings overall.
The Buffalo Sabres are without their top two centers from last season, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere. Defenseman Brian Campbell is the Sabres leading scorer and tops NHL defensemen with nine points. Jaroslav Spacek has four goals in four games.
San Jose Sharks at Vancouver Canucks
San Jose center Jeremy Roenick was scratched Saturday after suffering a slight knee injury in a 2-1 win over Chicago on Wednesday night, and is uncertain for Monday's game. Roenick's only two goals of the season were against Vancouver, his 496th and 497th to move him closer to becoming the third American-born player with 500.
Detroit Red Wings at Anaheim Ducks
The Red Wings (4-1-1) already defeated Anaheim 3-2 in a shootout at home to open the 2007-08 season on Oct. 3, and are coming off a 4-1 victory at Los Angeles on Sunday. Backup goaltender Chris Osgood made 27 saves to help Detroit rebound from a 3-2 loss to Chicago on Friday, when it had squandered a two-goal first-period lead.