Koivu-OReilly 11-22

WILD (9-8-3) at SABRES (5-12-4)
7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-N, NHL.TV

It's the first game between the teams since a June 30 trade in which the Wild sent defenseman Marco Scandella and forward Jason Pominville to the Sabres in exchange for forwards Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis.
Pominville will play on a line with Evander Kane and Jack Eichel for the first time since Nov. 10 against the Florida Panthers. He hasn't scored a goal in nine games and doesn't have a point in the past six.
Goalie Devan Dubnyk is expected to start for the Wild, who've lost their past two games. Chad Johnson will start for Buffalo.

Players to watch

Wild left wing Nino Niederreiter has scored a goal in four straight games and has a six-game point streak (four goals, two assists).
Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly has a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists) and assists in two straight games.

They said it

"Any time you come back to a team that you got traded from you obviously want to win … You want this one a little more than other games. But I think I've just got to approach it like any other game. I can't really get caught up in all that other stuff. You're going to see some familiar faces on the forecheck and things like that, so you've just got to play it like any other game." -- Wild forward Marcus Foligno
"I think every hockey player to get to this point has gone through some adversity. If you just know how to handle it, we've all been through it before. It's just the game of life. So you just have to be positive about it. Negativity, it just doesn't help anyone. It doesn't help the team situation. Staying positive is definitely what we need to do." -- Sabres defenseman Marco Scandella

Wild projected lineup
Sabres projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Jack Eichel -- Jason Pominville
Benoit Pouliot -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Sam Reinhart
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Criscuolo
Jordan Nolan -- Jacob Josefson -- Kyle Okposo
Marco Scandella -- Justin Falk
Jake McCabe -- Victor Antipin
Josh Gorges -- Nathan Beaulieu
Chad Johnson
Robin Lehner
Scratched:Matt Moulson, Seth Griffith, Casey Nelson
Injured:Taylor Fedun (lower body), Matt Tennyson (foot), Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), Zach Bogosian (lower body)

Status update

Bogosian and Ristolainen skated with the Sabres for the first time since going down with injuries. Bogosian was injured during Buffalo's final preseason game on Sept. 29; Ristolainen was hurt on Nov. 2 against the Arizona Coyotes.

Stat pack

Dubnyk is 3-0-0 at Buffalo with a .977 save percentage and two shutouts. … The Sabres have been held to one goal in seven of their past 12 games.