Jets at Sabres preview

JETS (25-11-7) at SABRES (10-23-9)
7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, TSN3, NHL.TV

Jets goaltender Steve Mason will make his first start since Dec. 23. He has lost his past three starts and is 2-6-1 this season with a 3.47 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in 10 games.
Winnipeg is 5-0-1 in its past six games and has scored four or more goals in five of those six. The Jets lead the Central Division, two points ahead of the St. Louis Blues; Winnipeg has played two fewer games.
Goaltender Robin Lehner will start for the Sabres, who look to avoid their fifth consecutive loss. Lehner missed practice Monday after he took a shot in the neck during Buffalo's 4-1 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. The Sabres are 0-3-1 in their past four games and 2-6-3 in their past 11.

Players to watch

Jets forward Blake Wheeler has nine points (five goals, four assists) in a six-game point streak.
Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"When you're chasing the game a lot, you chase the game and that becomes who you are; that's how you play the game. We've had some leads this year so we've had, in some ways, a bit of a newer experience for us. … That offense has put us in a situation where we can learn the parts of the game we need to grow in." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice
"If you look at my last 10 games, I've had some Grade-A scoring opportunities. I just haven't finished." -- Sabres forward Evander Kane, who has two goals in his past 11 games

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Blake Wheeler -- Patrik Laine
Mathieu Perreault -- Bryan Little -- Nikolaj Ehlers
Andrew Copp -- Jack Roslovic -- Joel Armia
Shawn Matthias -- Matt Hendricks -- Marko Dano
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Toby Enstrom -- Dustin Byfuglien
Steve Mason
Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched: Ben Chiarot, Brendan Lemieux
Injured: Adam Lowry (upper body), Brandon Tanev (lower body), Mark Scheifele (upper body)

Sabres projected lineup

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

Status update

Lowry skated Tuesday, but Maurice said he was not going to rush him back. … Guhle was recalled Monday and will make his season debut. He has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 35 games with Rochester of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Laine has six assists in his past five games and 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in his past 18 games. Eichel has one assist in his past four games after he had 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his previous six games.