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 http://www.canucksshoponline.com/authentic-henrik-sedin-jersey , 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 Jacob Markstrom Jersey , 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, 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 Markus Granlund Jersey ,” 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, 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.” NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Austin Watson’s girlfriend is taking blame for the incident that led the NHL to suspend the Nashville Predators‘ forward for 27 games, a punishment reduced to 18 games by an arbitrator on appeal.Jenn Guardino issued a statement Saturday saying the incident on June 16 was not an act of domestic violence and that Watson would never hit or abuse her.“My behavior and state of intoxication lead to the police being involved that day,” Guardino said. “I have struggled with alcoholism for many years and I am actively involved in AA. I am fortunate to have Austin’s continued support with my treatment. We handled matters poorly on June 16th and know that we need to make better decisions going forward.”Guardino also apologized to everyone involved http://www.canucksshoponline.com/authentic-michael-del-zotto-jersey , including the Predators and the city of Nashville.Watson was arrested June 16 after a witness flagged down a police officer to a gas station in Franklin, Tennessee. Watson told police he and his girlfriend were arguing and that he pushed her. Officers said they found red marks on her chest, and she said Watson caused them. Watson pleaded no contest to domestic assault on July 24.He can have the misdemeanor charge dismissed by fulfilling terms of his judicial diversion program. Watson must serve three months of probation and complete both an in-patient treatment program and a batterer’s intervention program.The NHL suspended Watson on Sept. 12 for 28 games, and both the league and the NHL Players’ Association announced Thursday that arbitrator Shyam Das had reduced it to 18 games.The league issued a statement Friday saying the NHL was disappointed with the arbitrator’s decision on an issue of personal conduct. The NHL doesn’t have a written domestic violence policy and takes each situation on a case by case basis.The NHLPA has defended its work on domestic violence awareness with both rookies and throughout the season, noting the CBA giving players the right to appeal punishment for off-ice conduct.Watson is a former first-round draft pick who scored a career-high 14 goals and had five assists in 76 games during the 2017-18 regular season. He had five goals and three assists in 13 playoff games.The 26-year-old Watson has 23 goals and 24 assists in 216 career regular-season games, all with the Predators.