Sabres at Coyotes preview

SABRES (29-27-8) at COYOTES (31-27-8)
8 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, MSG-B, NHL.TV

Darcy Kuemper returned after being out two months with a groin injury to make 23 saves in a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. He reported no problems but coach Rick Tocchet plans to play both goalies down the stretch.
Buffalo is playing the second of a back-to-back after losing to the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Friday. The Sabres have lost two straight after going 5-1-0 in their previous six and are 10 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
The Coyotes are 1-3-0 in their past four games. They are two points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card from the Western Conference, and four points behind the Edmonton Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division.
The Sabres are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games against the Coyotes.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Jack Eichel has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games and 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in nine games against Arizona.
Coyotes forward Brad Richardson has a goal in each of his past two games and has four shorthanded goals the past two seasons.

They said it

"We've got another challenge now and we've got to be up to the task. We have to pick up points. Obviously we know how big every game is here, so we have to move forward and focus." -- Sabres forward Jeff Skinner
"The whole year, every game is big. But when you get down to the stretch run, you've got to take advantage of these points, especially at home. We should be well-rested and should bring a lot of energy." -- Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz

Sabres projected lineup

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

Coyotes projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Christian Dvorak -- Nick Schmaltz
Lawson Crouse -- Derek Stepan -- Clayton Keller
Conor Garland -- Barrett Hayton -- Phil Kessel
Carl Soderberg -- Brad Richardson -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Jordan Oesterle -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Alex Goligoski -- Jason Demers
Antti Raanta
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched:Christian Fischer, Michael Grabner, Aaron Ness
Injured:Jakob Chychrun (lower body)

Status report

Demers, out since Feb. 1 with a lower-body injury, will be a game time decision but is expected to play.

Stat pack

Simmonds needs two points for 500 in the NHL. … Tocchet needs one win for 100 as Coyotes coach. … The Coyotes are 8-2-3 in their past 13 home games.