The Detroit Red Wings continue their homestand tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. The Red Wings are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Rangers on Friday, while the Sabres are coming off a 4-2 win over the Flyers on Friday.
Detroit Red Wings (37-31-8, 82 Points) vs. Buffalo Sabres (37-35-5, 79 Points)
When: Sunday, April 7
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena (Detroit, MI)
TV: TNT
Scoring Leaders
Detroit Red Wings
Points: Lucas Raymond – 61
Goals: Dylan Larkin – 30
Assists: Shayne Gostisbehere – 40
Buffalo Sabres
Points: Rasmus Dahlin – 57
Goals: JJ Peterka – 28
Assists: Rasmus Dahlin – 38
Expected Line Combinations
Detroit Red Wings
David Perron – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat – Austin Czarnik – Patrick Kane
J.T. Compher – Andrew Copp – Christian Fischer
Robby Fabbri – Joe Veleno – Daniel Sprong
Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider
Jeff Petry – Simon Edvinsson
Olli Maatta – Shayne Gostisbehere
Buffalo Sabres
JJ Peterka – Tage Thompson – Alex Touch
Zach Benson – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn
Jeff Skinner – Peyton Krebs – Lukas Rousek
Eric Robinson – Zemgus Girgensons – Victor Olofsson
Owen Power – Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram – Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson – Connor Clifton
For More NHL Stats, Visit stats.insidetherink.com!
By The Numbers:
League Ranking
Detroit Red Wings
PP%: 22.9 (9)
PK%: 79.8 (14)
GF P/G: 3.32 (9)
GA P/G: 3.32 (24)
Faceoff %: 50.5 (14)
Buffalo Sabres
PP%: 16.4 (28)
PK%: 79.5 (16)
GF P/G: 3.00 (21)
GA P/G: 2.99 (13)
Faceoff %: 45.2 (32)
Red Wings Player to Watch: Dylan Larkin
Larkin this season has played in 62 games, and he has recorded 61 points on 30 goals and 31 assists. He has 24 points on the power play on 12 goals and 12 assists. He is tied for first on the team in points, first in goals, and fourth in assists.
Larkin’s Line Assignments
Larkin will be on the top line with David Perron and Lucas Raymond. He will also be on the top power-play unit with Patrick Kane, Lucas Raymond, David Perron, and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Larkin’s career vs. Sabres
Larkin in his career against Buffalo has played in 29 games and has recorded 26 points on 16 goals and ten assists. He only played in one of the three matchups this season recording two goals in that game.
Between The Pipes
Detroit: Alex Lyon (19-17-4, 3.03 GAA)
Lyon last played on Friday against the Rangers, and suffered the loss giving up four goals on 38 shots. In his career against the Sabres, he is 2-2-0, and this season he is 1-1-0 against them.
Buffalo: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (26-20-3, 2.55 GAA) / Devon Levi (10-8-2, 3.10 GAA) / Eric Comrie (1-7-0, 3.91 GAA)
Luukkonen last played on Friday against the Flyers and he got the win stopping 32 of the 34 shots he faced. In his career against the Red Wings, he is 2-1-0, and he is 1-1-0 against them this season.
Levi last played last Friday against the Devils and got the win stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced. In his career against the Red Wings, he is 1-0-0.
Comrie last played on March 7th against the Predators, and he suffered the loss giving up four goals on 24 shots. He is 1-1-0 in his career against Detroit with the loss coming back on December 5th when he gave up four goals on 26 shots.
Wrap Up
The Red Wings missed an opportunity on Friday to pick up a point but the other teams around them also lost so they didn’t lose any ground. Still trailing by one point for the final Wild Card spot there is now company behind the Red Wings with the Penguins one point behind and the Sabres who Detroit has today three points back. The Red Wings have six games left including today, it feels as if they have to come out of each game with at least a point to have a real shot.
In their last ten games against the Sabres, Detroit is 6-2-2, and both scored 42 goals each in those ten games. Detroit beat the Sabres in two of their three matchups to this point.
