Sabres at Lightning preview

SABRES (17-6-2) at LIGHTNING (17-7-1)
7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, MSG-B, NHL.TV

The Sabres have won 10 consecutive games, matching streaks from Jan. 4-23, 1984, and Oct. 4-26, 2006.
Carter Hutton will attempt to win his ninth straight game, which would tie the second-longest streak by a goalie in Buffalo history (Gerry Desjardins, 1976-77). Martin Biron won 11 consecutive games from Nov. 23-Dec. 17, 2005.
Hutton is 8-0-0 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in his past eight games (seven starts).
Forward Ondrej Palat will return to the Lightning lineup after missing 16 games with a lower-body injury. Goalie Louis Domingue will make his ninth start in a row for Tampa Bay, 5-2-0 in its past seven games.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Jeff Skinner has six points (five goals, one assist) in a five-game point streak and 15 points (13 goals, two assists) in his past 13 games.
Lightning center Brayden Point has six points (four goals, two assists) in a three-game goal and point streak and 13 points (nine goals, four assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"It's another game but obviously it's against a top team in the League so it's going to be a good challenge. You use this game as a good test, especially on the road. You give this team too much time, too much space and they will hurt you." -- Sabres forward Jeff Skinner
"Right now they are one point ahead of us in the standings and they are in our way for No. 1, so we have to make sure we have a good game tonight." -- Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Tage Thompson -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Kyle Okposo
Evan Rodrigues -- Vladimir Sobotka -- Jason Pominville
Remi Elie -- Johan Larsson -- Zemgus Girgensons
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin -- Zach Bogosian
Nathan Beaulieu -- Casey Nelson
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Lawrence Pilut, Matt Hunwick
Injured: Scott Wilson (ankle), Patrik Berglund (upper body), Conor Sheary (upper body), Marco Scandella (undisclosed)

Lightning projected lineup

Yanni Gourde -- Steven Stamkos -- Mathieu Joseph
Tyler Johnson -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- J.T. Miller
Ondrej Palat -- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman -- Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn -- Mikhail Sergachev
Louis Domingue
Connor Ingram
Scratched: Slater Koekkoek, Danick Martel
Injured:Anton Stralman (upper body), Adam Erne (illness), Andrei Vasilevskiy (left foot fracture)

Status report

Hunwick, who has not played this season because of a neck injury, returned to the ice for the first time and skated in an extra group with Pilut. ... Gourde skated with the first power-play unit and Miller moved to the second group. … Stralman will be re-evaluated in a week and could miss significant time.

Stat pack

Eichel has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past seven games. ... Kucherov has 15 points (two goals, 13 assists) in a seven-game point streak.