The Sabres have one more shot to please the home folks. Then it's almost all road, all the time.

The Sabres play just three home games in January. The first came in Tuesday's 4-2 win over Ottawa. The second is Friday when they play host to the New York Rangers. Then they play nine of their next 10 on the road.

It gives them only a few chances to improve a subpar season in HSBC Arena. The Sabres have won just half their games at home (11-9-2), and it's been a bone of contention for the team all season.

It's especially troublesome when they struggle at home (like a recent 1-1-1 stretch, in which even the shootout win featured blowing a two-goal lead in the final 94 seconds) then go and impress on the road.

Jarkko Ruutu added another chapter to the bitter rivalry between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres. He bit the gloved thumb of Sabres enforcer Andrew Peters during a first-period altercation Tuesday night, overshadowing Buffalo's 4-2 win. "It's a pretty goofy thing that happened," Peters said.