Avalanche at Sabres preview

AVALANCHE (2-1-0) at SABRES (2-1-0)
7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, ALT, NHL.TV

The Sabres have won their past two games since a 4-0 opening-night loss to the Boston Bruins on Oct. 4.
Forward Vladislav Kamenev will make his season debut and defenseman Patrik Nemeth returns to the lineup for the Avalanche after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury.
Goalie Semyon Varlamov will start for Colorado, which ends a two-game road trip looking to rebound from a 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Players to watch

Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon has scored in each of his first three games, extending an NHL career long goal streak to start a season. With a goal against the Sabres, he can become the second player since John Mitchell in 2015-16 to score at least one goal in each of the Avalanche's first four games since the franchise moved to Colorado in 1995.
Sabres center Jack Eichel has six points (two goals, four assists) in five games against the Avalanche.

They said it

"This is a bounce-back game for us. I was really impressed with the way we handled these types of games last year. We're playing a real good team in Buffalo that has a strong belief system. They skate, they're skilled, so it should be a good one here tonight." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"Starts are always really important. You don't want to kind of get yourself behind the 8-ball early, which we did last year, and then you're trying to catch up and most of the times it's too late. … It's only been three (games), so we've got to make sure we keep playing the right way. And if you do, you usually get success out of it." -- Sabres forward Jason Pominville

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Alex Kerfoot -- Tyson Jost -- Colin Wilson
Vladislav Kamenev -- J.T. Compher -- Matt Calvert
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Gabriel Bourque
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov -- Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth -- Ian Cole
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Sheldon Dries, Mark Barberio
Injured:Sven Andrighetto (leg)

Sabres projected lineup

Conor Sheary -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner - Patrik Berglund -- Kyle Okposo
Johan Larsson -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Tage Thompson
Zemgus Girgensons -- Evan Rodrigues -- Jason Pominville
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Dahlin
Nathan Beaulieu -- Casey Nelson
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched:Matt Tennyson, Remi Elie
Injured:Vladimir Sobotka (upper body), Scott Wilson (ankle), Sean Malone (knee), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Matt Hunwick (neck)

Status report

Larsson will make his season debut after missing the first three games with a foot injury sustained against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sept. 26.

Stat pack

Pominville is expected to play his 664th regular-season game with the Sabres, tying him with Mike Foligno and Ric Seiling for 10th-most in Buffalo history. … Hutton is 5-1-0 with a 2.24 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in six games against Colorado. … Landeskog needs one assist for 200 in the NHL.