Game Preview | Luukkonen expected to play full game in Detroit

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will start and play the full game for the Buffalo Sabres in their preseason meeting with the Detroit Red Wings tonight at Little Caesars Arena.
Fans in the Buffalo broadcast market can stream the game live on Sabres.com. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Here are five things to know going in.

1. Tonight's goaltender

Sabres coach Don Granato had previously planned for goalies to split time during the first three preseason games, as Aaron Dell and Dustin Tokarski did in Columbus on Saturday.
Granato said assistant coach Mike Bales, who oversees the goaltenders, felt after watching Luukkonen early in camp that the 22-year-old was ready for a full 60 minutes.
"He asked me if that was available, if I felt comfortable with doing that and making that change, and I'm fine with that," Granato said. "I think he's had enough hard practice time that he might be ready for the full game."
Luukkonen already has one full game under his belt, having posted a 22-save shutout against the New Jersey Devils in Buffalo's Prospects Challenge opener on Sept. 17. The goaltender enters his third pro season looking to earn a roster spot in Buffalo after making his NHL debut in April.

2. The lineup

The game roster is largely similar to the one the Sabres iced in Columbus on Tuesday, albeit with tweaks to the lines. Eleven players who dressed Tuesday will be in the lineup, including Dylan Cozens, JJ Peterka, Arttu Ruotsalainen, Linus Weissbach, and Jack Quinn.
Granato said he felt it was best for many of the young players' timing to get right into another game.
"There's an execution level in practice, and then you watch a game and there's no execution level," Granato said. "…. When can they execute that in a game? And it's more games. It takes them more games.
"So, when I watched the other night, I thought Dylan didn't look like himself and he probably needs more games, and he'll get to that. So, I thought I'd throw him back in for that reason and then other guys a little bit along the same lines."
Defenseman Will Butcher will also play for the second straight game after skating a team-high 28:15 in Columbus. We wrote yesterday about Butcher's hunger for ice time coming into his first Sabres camp.
Here is the full projected lineup:
74 Rasmus Asplund - 24 Dylan Cozens - 72 Tage Thompson
77 JJ Peterka - 25 Arttu Ruotsalainen - 65 Linus Weissbach
57 Brett Murray - 43 Sean Malone - 22 Jack Quinn
42 Brendan Warren - 20 Cody Eakin - 15 John Hayden
8 Robert Hagg - Mark Pysyk
4 Will Butcher - 78 Jacob Bryson
88 Brandon Davidson - 45 Casey Fitzgerald
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
40 Mat Robson

2. Pysyk to make debut

Defenseman Mark Pysyk will be among the players making their preseason debuts, along with Rasmus Asplund, Tage Thompson, Cody Eakin, and Robert Hagg, among others.
Pysyk was drafted by the Sabres during the first round in 2010 and spent parts of four seasons with the team prior to being traded to Florida in 2016. He signed a one-year deal to return to the organization in July.
The defenseman was asked what it's been like to spend time in the building where his career started.
"It feels like it's been a week sometimes, and then sometimes it feels like it's been a long time," Pysyk said. "A lot of staff that's still the same. So that's good, familiar faces. Zemgus (Girgensons) is still here, so that's, I think, the one guy that's still here from when I was playing. But, no, it's good to be back. It's cool to be back where it all started."

3. First impressions

Pysyk said people have asked him what they should expect from the Sabres this year.
"I'm telling them from the first week of camp, the skates, there's so much speed here that it's going to be a fun team to watch the next couple years, this year included," he said.
"There's a high level of skill here, and the attitude's there. I think everybody wants to succeed and wants to work hard. You can just tell by how our skates have been. The intensity's been up, everybody's really pushing each other. It's a good feeling around here."

4. On the power play

Here's a look at the power-play units that practiced this morning:
Unit 1:
Asplund
Thompson-Cozens-Ruotsalainen
Butcher
Unit 2:
Murray
Weissbach-Quinn-Peterka
Bryson

5. Looking ahead

The Sabres host their first home game of the preseason against the Pittsburgh Penguins at KeyBank Center on Friday. Tickets are available here.
Granato said the plan is for most players who are not playing in Detroit to dress against the Penguins. That group would include Rasmus Dahlin, Casey Mittelstadt, Victor Olofsson, and Jeff Skinner, among others.
"That was really the plan," Granato said. "We're playing back-to-back, so everyone that was with us at the end of last year and older players are going to play one of those two games."