in preseason. I’ve been trying to work on that. I was a

OTTAWA — The two teams with the worst records in the NHL’s Eastern Conference last season will meet in a home-and-home series that starts Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.One is showing signs of struggling again and the other is making a move toward respectability.The Buffalo Sabres (6-4-2) will be coming off their best October in seven years when they visit the Ottawa Senators (4-5-2) in the first game of a back-to-back set that concludes Saturday afternoon in Buffalo.Article continues below ...The Sabres — who finished in the conference cellar www.officialredwings.com , five points back of the Senators in 2017-18 — have gone five games without a regulation-time loss.“I think if you asked me if we were 6-4-2 after the month of October, we’d be pretty happy with that and where we sit right now,” second-year coach Phil Housley told The Buffalo News after Wednesday’s practice. “In saying that, you always want more … but when you look over the body of work, I really like the way we played, maybe since the game in San Jose (Oct. 18, the last time they didn’t pick up at least a point).“Even though it was a lopsided (5-1) loss, I liked the way we played five-on-five. If you’re asking me if I had to evaluate October, I think we’ve met our expectation moving forward, but we can’t rest on our laurels. We’re playing some tough teams coming up here.”The Senators have not fallen into that category of late. They are coming off a three-game road trip to Colorado, Vegas and Arizona. They were outscored 15-7 and saw their losing streak extend to four games. Particularly irksome to coach Guy Boucher was the first period at Arizona on Tuesday. Goalie Mike Condon was the scapegoat, after giving up three goals on 11 shots that included a floater from the far blue line Detroit Red Wings T-Shirts Authentic , and he was placed on waivers the next morning.But Boucher made it clear he was not happy with the team as a whole.“We (had not) seen that in the exhibition games, we (had not) seen that in the first 10 games,” Boucher told Postmedia. “I’m not a big fan of wasting a period.”With Condon expected to clear waivers and get demoted to the minors, the Senators will be relying on 37-year-old goalie Craig Anderson, who has already played in eight straight games. Needed is someone capable to give him a break, with 15 games on Ottawa’s November schedule and seven back-to-backs before the end of December.The Sabres also have 15 November games and, like the Senators, start the month with three in four days.“I think we believe we have a pretty good team here,” winger Jeff Skinner, who leads the Sabres with six goals, told The Buffalo News. “We want to try to work towards getting points every night. That’s the goal. When you go to a game and you have a chance to win and get two points, for us Detroit Red Wings Hoodies Authentic , that’s what we focus on.”The Senators need to focus on getting more from everybody. “We’ve worked in spurts, for 10 minutes at a time sometimes,” center Chris Tierney told Postmedia. “But you’re not going to win in this league if you don’t come out for a full 60.” ST. LOUIS (AP) — Andrew Cogliano was in the right place at the right time for the Anaheim Ducks.Ben Street and Cogliano scored third-period goals, Ryan Miller made 29 saves, and the Ducks rallied to beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Sunday night.Jakob Silfverberg also scored for the Ducks, who won for the third straight time at Enterprise Center and matched a franchise-best winning streak at St. Louis from Dec. 21, 2005, to March 31. 2007.“I got on the forecheck and I think someone turned it over,” Cogliano said of his first goal of the season. “I was able to just get to the net and (Ryan Kessler) made a quick play at the net, and I was able to bang one in.”Alexander Steen and Tyler Bozak scored for the Blues, and Vladimir Tarasenko had a pair of assists. Chad Johnson made 28 saves in his debut for St. Louis, which fell to 1-2-2 to start the season.“Nowadays you’ve got to get people in front of the net Detroit Red Wings Hats Authentic , you’ve got to get deflections on goalies and they’re a good team of doing that,” Johnson said. “They’ve always been known to get bodies to the net and they did that tonight.”Street erased a 2-1 deficit for the Ducks at 7:16 of the third period, tipping a Josh Manson shot from the point past Johnson.Cogliano chipped in the eventual game-winner with 5:16 left, beating Johnson between his pads with one second remaining on an Anaheim power play.“I don’t think I was meant to be out there on the power play,” Cogliano joked. “I think I just snuck out there. I got the power play average up. They should be thanking me.”Ducks coach Randy Carlyle thought putting Cogliano’s line on the ice might provide a jolt.“We didn’t look very good,” Carlyle said. “We just put their line out, 18 seconds left and they found a way to get one. It was good to see and it’s a difference-maker.”Silfverberg’s team-high third goal of the season gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead with 1:39 left in the first. Max Comtois’ outlet pass sprung Silverberg on a breakaway as he split the Blues’ defensive pairing of Joel Edmundson and Colton Parayko and beat Johnson with a wrist shot over his glove.Steen’s goal midway through the second period for the Blues tied the game at 1-1. After sustained pressure, Steen deflected a shot by Edmundson between the circles past Miller.“Right now, there’s just some individual or immature mistakes that we’re making, not just the ones that end up in our net, but the ones that give them a little fuel,” Steen said. “It’s something Custom Detroit Red Wings Jerseys , obviously, we’re going to have to clean up.”Bozak’s power play goal, his first as a Blue, made it 2-1 with 4:08 left in the second. It was the Blues’ fourth power-play goal in their last seven games.Miller came up with several big saves in the third period, including two stops on a late rush by Tarasenko and Braden Schenn.“I felt good as we went,” Miller said. “I felt like I was skating a little bit better than in preseason. I’ve been trying to work on that. I was able to stay in the shooting lanes, something else I’ve been working on.”NOTES: Blues D Robert Bortuzzo left the game with a lower body injury after playing just 5:33. … Blues LW Jaden Schwartz missed his season straight game with a lower body injury. … Miller, who made his first start this season in goal for the Ducks, played 19 games for the Blues at the end of the 2013-14 season. … Aside from Schwartz, the Blues scratched RW Chris Thorburn and D Jakub Jerabek. The Ducks scratched D Luke Schenn, RW Carter Rowney and C Joseph Blandisi.UP NEXTAnaheim: Hosts the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.St. Louis: Visits Montreal on Wednesday night.