Avalanche at Sabres preview

AVALANCHE (29-21-4) at SABRES (16-29-10)
7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, ALT, NHL.TV

Eichel is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain sustained in a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
Goalie Robin Lehner is expected to start for the Sabres after Chad Johnson made 38 saves against Boston.
The Avalanche are 2-5-1 in their past eight games and four points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Goalie Jonathan Bernier is likely to start for the Avalanche, who conclude a three-game road trip.

Players to watch

Avalanche center J.T. Compher has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past eight games.
Sabres right wing Sam Reinhart has six points (goal, five assists) during a three-game point streak and 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past 11 games.

They said it

"We've got to find it; we've got to find another gear offensively. It hasn't been good enough … and we don't have much time right now. That's the beauty of it, we have a chance to rebound Sunday at Buffalo and then get back to home ice." -- Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog to The Denver Post
"I think just getting a little confidence. We lacked that for a long time, and obviously getting this one (Saturday), it grows on you a little bit. We've beaten some good teams this year, and just got to keep it going (Sunday) and building on that confidence." -- Sabres forward Scott Wilson

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- A.J. Greer
Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher -- Colin Wilson
Gabriel Bourque -- Dominic Toninato -- Nail Yakupov
Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth -- Tyson Barrie
Samuel Girard -- Anton Lindholm
Jonathan Bernier
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched:Andrei Mironov
Injured:Blake Comeau (lower body), Nathan MacKinnon (upper body), Sven Andrighetto (lower body), Mark Barberio (lower body), Vladislav Kamenev (arm)

Sabres projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Kyle Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons -- Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Reinhart
Scott Wilson -- Johan Larsson -- Jason Pominville
Benoit Pouliot -- Jacob Josefson -- Jordan Nolan
Marco Scandella -- Casey Nelson
Nathan Beaulieu -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Justin Falk -- Victor Antipin
Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson
Scratched:Josh Gorges
Injured:Jack Eichel (high ankle sprain), Jake McCabe (thumb), Zach Bogosian (hip)

Status report

The Avalanche and Sabres did not skate Sunday.

Stat pack

Rantanen has four assists in his past seven games after he had 14 (five goals, nine assists) in his previous eight. … Lehner is 3-2-1 with a 1.69 goals-against average, .946 save percentage and two shutouts in his past six starts.