Game Preview: Detroit Red Wings vs. Buffalo Sabres 3/12/2024

The Detroit Red Wings wrap up their four-game road trip against Buffalo tonight. The Red Wings are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Golden Knights on Sunday, while the Sabres are coming off a 3-2 win over the Oilers on Saturday afternoon.

Detroit Red Wings (33-25-6, 72 Points) vs. Buffalo Sabres (30-30-5, 65 Points)

When: Tuesday, March 12
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: KeyBank Center (Buffalo, NY)
TV: Bally Sport Detroit

Scoring Leaders

Detroit Red Wings

Points: Dylan Larkin – 54
Goals: Dylan Larkin – 26
Assists: Lucas Raymond – 34

Buffalo Sabres

Points: Rasmus Dahlin – 47
Goals: Jeff Skinner – 20
Assists: Rasmus Dahlin – 32

Expected Line Combinations

Detroit Red Wings

Alex DeBrincat – J.T. Compher – Patrick Kane
Jonatan Berggren – Joe Veleno  – Lucas Raymond
Michael Rasmussen – Andrew Copp – David Perron
Robby Fabbri – Christian Fischer – Daniel Sprong
Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider
Olli Maatta – Jeff Petry
Shayne Gostisbehere – Justin Holl

Buffalo Sabres

Zemgus Girgensons – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Jordan Greenway – Dylan Cozens – Zach Benson
Jeff Skinner – Peyton Krebs – JJ Peterka
Eric Robinson – Tyson Jost – Victor Olofsson
Rasmus Dahlin – Bowen Byram
Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson – Connor Clifton

For More NHL Stats, Visit stats.insidetherink.com!

By The Numbers:

League Ranking

Detroit Red Wings

PP%: 23.0 (10)
PK%: 80.3 (13)
GF P/G: 3.42 (6)
GA P/G: 3.30 (23)
Faceoff %: 49.8 (17)

Buffalo Sabres

PP%: 16.9 (26)
PK%: 78.6 (20)
GF P/G: 2.88 (24)
GA P/G: 2.98 (13)
Faceoff %: 45.8 (31)

Red Wings Player to Watch: Robby Fabbri

Fabbri has played in 50 games this season and has 26 points coming on 16 goals and ten assists. Fabbri is fifth on the team in goals and when Fabbri records a point the Red Wings are 15-4-1. On the power play, he has eight points on four goals and four assists.

Fabbri’s Line Assignments

Perron will be on the fourth line playing with Christian Fischer and Daniel Sprong.  He will also play on the first power-play unit with Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, and Shayne Gostisbehere.

Fabbri’s career vs. Buffalo

Perron in his career against Buffalo has played in ten games and he has nine points coming on four goals and five assists. In the earlier matchup this season he had a goal and an assist.

Between The Pipes

Detroit: Alex Lyon (18-12-2, 2.93 GAA) / Ville Husso (9-5-2, 3.55 GAA) / James Reimer (6-7-2, 3.05 GAA)

Lyon last played on Friday against the Coyotes, and he got the loss giving up four goals on 24 shots. He is 2-1-0 in four games against Buffalo in his career.

Husso returned to the crease against Edmonton on February 13^th, but he left after almost nine minutes with an injury, he stopped six of the seven shots he faced. In his career against the Sabres, he is 1-0-1.

Reimer last played against the Golden Knights on Saturday and he suffered the loss giving up four goals on 35 shots. In his career against the Sabres, he is 13-4-2.

Buffalo: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (20-16-3, 2.43 GAA) / Eric Comrie (1-7-0, 3.91 GAA)

Luukkonen last played on Saturday against the Oilers a game in which he won stopping 30 of the 32 shots he faced. In his career against the Red Wings, he is 1-0-0.

Comrie last played on Thursday against the Predators, and he suffered his seventh straight loss giving up four goals on 24 shots. In his career against Detroit, he is 1-1-0 and that loss came on December 5^th when he gave up four goals on 26 shots.

Wrap Up

The Detroit Red Wings are currently holding onto the final playoff spot thanks to a loss by the Islanders last night to the Los Angeles Kings. The one downfall aside from the five-game losing streak for Detroit is the fact that the Islanders had won six straight including a win over the Red Wings which also started this five-game skid for them. This is the part of the schedule where the Red Wings need to get back on track and get points if they want to make it back to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In their last ten games against Buffalo, Detroit is 5-3-2, and have been outscored by the Sabres 39-37 in those ten games. Detroit beat Buffalo earlier this season in December 5-3.

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1. ITR 37: Round Two 45:11
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