The Detroit Red Wings will face off with the Buffalo Sabres this afternoon for the second time this week. The Red Wings are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Coyotes on Thursday, while the Sabres are coming off a 4-0 win over the Islanders on Thursday night.
Detroit Red Wings (33-27-6, 72 Points) vs. Buffalo Sabres (32-30-5, 69 Points)
When: Saturday, March 16
Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena (Detroit, MI)
TV: NHL Network/Bally Sport Detroit
Scoring Leaders
Detroit Red Wings
Points: Alex DeBrincat – 54
Goals: Dylan Larkin – 26
Assists: Lucas Raymond – 35
Buffalo Sabres
Points: Rasmus Dahlin – 49
Goals: Jeff Skinner – 21
Assists: Rasmus Dahlin – 34
Expected Line Combinations
Detroit Red Wings
Alex DeBrincat – J.T. Compher – Patrick Kane
David Perron – Joe Veleno – Lucas Raymond
Michael Rasmussen– Andrew Copp – Christian Fischer
Robby Fabbri – Austin Czarnik – Daniel Sprong
Shayne Gostisbehere – Moritz Seider
Jeff Petry – Ben Chiarot
Justin Holl – Olli Maatta
Buffalo Sabres
Zemgus Girgensons – Tage Thompson – Alex Touch
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%: 23.1 (10)
PK%: 80.9 (11)
GF P/G: 3.38 (7)
GA P/G: 3.36 (24)
Faceoff %: 50.1 (15)
Buffalo Sabres
PP%: 16.8 (26)
PK%: 78.9 (18)
GF P/G: 2.96 (21)
GA P/G: 2.94 (11)
Faceoff %: 45.9 (31)
Red Wings Player to Watch: Patrick Kane
Kane this season has played in 35 games and he has 33 points coming on 13 goals and 20 assists. Despite signing late he is ninth on the team in points and assists and he is tied for seventh in goals. He has 11 points on the power play coming on two goals and nine assists.
Kane’s Line Assignments
Kane will play on the top line with J.T. Compher and Alex DeBrincat. He will also be on the top power play line playing with DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, Robby Fabbri, and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Kane’s career vs. Buffalo
Kane in his career against the Sabres he has played in 26 games and he has 28 points coming on 12 goals and 16 assists. He didn’t play in the first game but in Tuesday’s loss, he had an assist.
Between The Pipes
Detroit: James Reimer (6-7-2, 3.09 GAA)
Reimer last played against the Sabres on Tuesday coming in relief of Lyon, and he gave up three goals on 26 shots. In his career against the Sabres, he is 13-4-2.
Buffalo: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (22-16-3, 2.38 GAA) / Eric Comrie (1-7-0, 3.91 GAA)
Luukkonen last played on Thursday against the Islanders picking up the win and a shutout as he stopped all 21 shots he faced. He is 2-0-0 against the Red Wings in his career with one of those wins coming on Tuesday.
Comrie last played last Thursday against the Predators and suffered his seventh straight loss giving up four goals on 24 shots. In his career against the Red Wings, he is 1-1-0 and one of those losses came back in December giving up four goals on 26 shots.
Wrap Up
The Red Wings dropped their seventh straight game on Thursday which has now turned today’s game into a must-win, besides losing their playoff spot to the Islanders who now hold the final spot due to having played one less game, on top of that the Sabres are now three points behind Detroit and a loss today would open the door for another team to enter the playoff race. This needs to be the best game Detroit has put together in the last three weeks.
In their last ten games against Buffalo, Detroit is 5-3-2, and have been outscored by the Sabres
43-38 in those ten games. Detroit has split the first two games against the Sabres winning 5-3 and losing on Tuesday 7-3.
ITR 40: Headed For A Repeat? – Inside The Rink
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