Wild at Sabres preview

WILD (7-11-2) at SABRES (10-7-3)
7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV

The Sabres have lost a forward to injury in each of their past five games. The latest is Tage Thompson, who sustained an upper-body injury in a 4-1 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
Defenseman John Gilmour, who has been scratched in six straight, will play his fourth game of the season and for the first time since Nov. 1 for Buffalo, 1-5-2 in its past eight games after going 4-1-0 in its previous five.
The Wild are 3-4-2 in their past nine games. Trailing twice by two goals in an 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, Minnesota rallied to earn at least one point in consecutive games for the third time this season.

Players to watch

Wild forward Zach Parise has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past two games.
Sabres center Jack Eichel has scored each of Buffalo's past five goals and has seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games against Minnesota.

They said it

"I think it takes a little longer (for him to start producing) but he's playing well now, getting a little bit of confidence back. That goes a long way. Hopefully it'll continue." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau on forward Zach Parise
"Just seems there's been guys going down at one moment, which is unfortunate. I think the toughest thing is trying not to do too much. Our depth is going to really show for us, with guys in the minors and so forth. There's been some good play from guys coming up and we're just going to need to do it by committee." -- Sabres forward Sam Reinhart

Wild projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Mats Zuccarello
Zach Parise -- Mikko Koivu -- Kevin Fiala
Jordan Greenway -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Luke Kunin
Ryan Donato -- Victor Rask -- Ryan Hartman
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba
Carson Soucy -- Brad Hunt
Alex Stalock
Devan Dubnyk
Scratched: Nick Seeler
Injured: Marcus Foligno (lower body), Greg Pateryn (core muscle)

Sabres projected lineup

Victor Olofsson -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner -- Evan Rodrigues -- Conor Sheary
Jimmy Vesey -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Curtis Lazar
Zemgus Girgensons -- Rasmus Asplund
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin -- Brandon Montour
Henri Jokiharju -- Colin Miller
John Gilmour
Linus Ullmark
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Marco Scandella
Injured: Kyle Okposo (concussion), Tage Thompson (upper body), Johan Larsson (upper body), Vladimir Sobotka (lower body), Marcus Johansson (upper body), Zach Bogosian (hip)

Status report

The Wild held an optional morning skate. ... Miller returns to the lineup for Buffalo after being scratched the past three games. … Scandella will be scratched.

Stat pack

Koivu is three points shy of 700 in the NHL. ... Ullmark is 3-0-0 with a 2.59 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in three games against Minnesota.