Canucks at Sabres preview

CANUCKS (23-17-4) at SABRES (19-18-7)
1 p.m. ET; SN, MSG-B, NHL.TV

Eichel scored his 27th goal in his 43rd game, a 5-1 loss at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, extending his point streak to five games (three goals, two assists). The Sabres captain set his NHL high with 28 goals in 77 games last season.
The Sabres, who are 2-5-0 in their past seven games, are 13-5-3 at home this season.
The Canucks have lost two in a row after a seven-game winning streak and have been outscored 14-4 in those losses. Vancouver, which will play the third game of a five-game road trip, is 9-12-1 on the road.

Players to watch

Canucks center Bo Horvat has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past five games.
Sabres forward Marcus Johansson has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"It's just a matter of dialing in our little details. Our team can play a winning style. We have that (mentality) in our dressing room and we just have to get back to it." -- Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko
"You look at some of the teams at home and on the road and a lot of teams play a little bit differently. I'm not sure what to attribute that to but just the confidence of being at home, in our building, making it a tough place to play, it's something that we wanted to do all season." -- Sabres forward Kyle Okposo

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Elias Pettersson -- Jake Virtanen
Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Loui Eriksson
Antoine Roussel -- Adam Gaudette -- Brock Boeser
Tyler Motte -- Jay Beagle -- Tim Schaller
Quinn Hughes -- Chris Tanev
Alexander Edler -- Tyler Myers
Jordie Benn -- Troy Stecher
Jacob Markstrom
Thatcher Demko
Scratched:Oscar Fantenberg
Injured: Josh Leivo (kneecap), Brandon Sutter (upper body), Micheal Ferland (upper body), Tyler Graovac (lower body)

Sabres projected lineup

Jimmy Vesey -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary -- Marcus Johansson -- Michael Frolik
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Okposo
Scott Wilson -- Curtis Lazar -- Evan Rodrigues
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin -- Brandon Montour
Lawrence Pilut -- Henri Jokiharju
Linus Ullmark
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Zach Bogosian, Colin Miller
Injured:Victor Olofsson (lower body), Jeff Skinner (upper body), Tage Thompson (upper body), Vladimir Sobotka (lower body)

Status report

Girgensons did not practice Friday but Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said he is expected to play. … McCabe could return after missing the game Thursday with an upper-body injury. … The Canucks did practice Friday; only Markstrom and Fantenberg, a defenseman, skated.

Stat pack

Sheary will play his 300th NHL game. … Reinhart has scored in each of his past four games against the Canucks. … Pearson's next goal will be his 100th in the NHL. … Edler is two goals away from 100.