Sabres vs. Red Wings | How to watch, storylines, and lineup info

The Buffalo Sabres conclude a back-to-back set of games against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

It will be the second of four meetings this season between the Sabres and their Atlantic Division rivals, with the Sabres having won the first matchup in Buffalo last Saturday. Their next meeting is Dec. 9 in Buffalo.

The Sabres will be looking to bounce back from a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Friday, which concluded a four-game homestand.

The puck drops at 7. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.

How to watch

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.)

Streaming (out of market): ESPN+

Radio: WGR 550

Click here for more ways to watch Sabres games.

Lineup notes

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said it's a “good possibility" that his two goaltenders would split the back-to-back set. Devon Levi made 32 saves against the Islanders, which would line up Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to start tonight.

Beyond the net, Ruff suggested pregame on Friday that he could use lineup changes as a means to insert fresh players into the group for the second game of back-to-back sets. Jiri Kulich was the scratch at forward on Friday along with Dennis Gilbert and Jacob Bryson on defense.

“We’ll have depth to put some fresh bodies in,” Ruff said. “Our back-to-backs haven’t been that good. Maybe putting some fresh guys in can help us out back-to-back.”

With no morning skate, stayed tuned to hear from Ruff when he meets with the media around 4:45 p.m.

Storylines

1. About last night

The Sabres opened the scoring with a power-play goal from Dylan Cozens and received a Gordie Howe hat trick from Jason Zucker (a goal, an assist, and a fight), but defensive miscues added up for the second loss in a row.

“I think we had too many mental mistakes,” Zucker said. “Gave them chances off of plays we shouldn’t have, forwards not covering for D. Too many little mental lapses. … Against a team like that that plays stingy defense with a big D corps, it’s hard to create offense. So, if you keep giving them two-goal leads, it’s going to be hard to come back.”

Owen Power also scored in the loss. Read more in Friday’s Postgame Report.

2. Point streaks

Tage Thompson extended his point streak to a career-best eight games with an assist on Zucker’s goal on Friday. He has six goals and six assists in that span.

Power also extended his career-best point streak to six games with his late goal. He’s tied for eighth among NHL defensemen this season with nine points.

Lastly, Zucker has points in four straight games and nine points in the Sabres’ last eight contests.

3. Scouting the Red Wings

Thompson had two goals and an assist while Luukkonen made 22 saves to earn a 5-3 win over the Red Wings in the previous meeting between these two teams last Saturday. The Sabres finished the game with a 39-25 advantage in shots.

The Red Wings followed that game with an overtime loss to Edmonton and a 6-2 loss to Winnipeg at home on Wednesday. They were outshot in both games, the continuation of a trend early this season – Detroit’s average of 34.3 shots against per game is the third highest in the NHL.

Vladimir Tarasenko is expected to be back in the lineup for the Red Wings after missing the loss to the Jets with an illness.

Game notes

• The Sabres have scored one power-play goal in each of their last three games. Zucker scored the first two, then assisted on the third against the Islanders.
• Rasmus Dahlin has six points (1+5) in the last six games, including an assist on Friday. He is now one point shy of reaching 300 in his career and one assist shy of tying Doug Bodger for fourth-most among defensemen in Sabres history (233). Alexei Zhitnik sits third on that list with 234.
• Sam Lafferty is expected to play his 300th NHL game tonight.