Jets at Sabres preview

JETS (34-18-3) at SABRES (27-20-7)
3 p.m. ET; MSG-B, TSN3, NHL.TV

Winnipeg is 0-2-1 in its past three games and has been outscored 10-4 in its past two after winning nine of its previous 12 games and outscoring its opponents 51-31 during that stretch.
The Sabres, 4-6-1 in their past 11 games, seek to win two in a row for the first time since Dec. 11 and 13.

Players to watch

Jets center Mark Scheifele has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 14 games.
Sabres captain Jack Eichel has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight games.

They said it

"For the bulk of this game we did what we set out to do. It was one that didn't go our way., certainly we're not happy with the result. Hopefully we can make it right [against the Sabres]."
"That's a tight group in there. They care for each other. … I think it just brought us tighter together, the things that went on. You could see in the effort tonight - we're going to need a really good effort tomorrow - but we're going to take this and really learn from what we did well." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Patrik Laine -- Bryan Little -- Jack Roslovic
Mathieu Perreault -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Brendan Lemieux -- Andrew Copp -- Mason Appleton
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot -- Dustin Byfuglien
Joe Morrow -- Tyler Myers
Connor Hellebuyck
Laurent Brossoit
Scratched: Dmitry Kulikov, Nic Petan, Sami Niku
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (upper body)

Sabres projected lineup

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

Status report

Each team is playing the second half of a back-to-back. … After dressing as the backup Saturday, Hutton is expected to get the start for Buffalo. ... Hellebuyck is expected to start for the Jets.

Stat pack

Lemieux has scored in consecutive games and in three of Winnipeg's past four games. … Rodrigues has eight points (six goals, two assists) in his past nine games. … The Sabres are 5-for-10 on the power play in four games in February. … Wheeler leads the Jets with 24 points (three goals, 21 assists) in 26 road games this season.